Brokerages Set Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Target Price at $106.38

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” by the eighteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have assigned a hold recommendation, one has issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $106.3750.

Several brokerages recently commented on PAYX. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $99.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Paychex from $116.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Argus upgraded shares of Paychex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Paychex to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th.

Paychex Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $99.48 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $35.64 billion, a PE ratio of 21.91 and a beta of 0.84. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $93.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. Paychex has a 52-week low of $85.45 and a 52-week high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.78 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 48.52% and a net margin of 25.84%.The business’s revenue was up 19.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.49 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Paychex will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 13th were given a dividend of $1.19 per share. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.8%. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 13th. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 104.85%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 16.2% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 8,674 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $799,000 after purchasing an additional 1,207 shares in the last quarter. Caerus Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the first quarter valued at $307,000. First Nebraska Trust Co acquired a new position in Paychex during the first quarter worth $8,123,000. Summitry LLC acquired a new position in Paychex during the first quarter worth $271,000. Finally, WNY Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Paychex during the first quarter worth $219,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc, founded in 1971 by B. Thomas “Tom” Golisano and headquartered in Rochester, New York, is a provider of payroll, human resources, and benefits outsourcing solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses. The company’s core services include payroll processing and tax filing, employee benefits administration, retirement services, and workers’ compensation administration, designed to simplify back-office operations and help clients comply with regulatory and tax requirements.

Paychex offers an integrated technology platform, marketed under the Paychex Flex brand, which delivers cloud-based payroll, HR, time and attendance, and reporting tools.