Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Receives Average Rating of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” by the twelve brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and ten have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $122.46.

PAYX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Paychex news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total transaction of $2,454,755.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $670,452.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 11.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paychex

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Fortis Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 55.8% in the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 307 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $118.38 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Paychex has a 52 week low of $106.27 and a 52 week high of $129.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.61 billion, a PE ratio of 25.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $122.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $121.84.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.97 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Paychex will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.94%.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, and insurance services for small to medium-sized businesses in the United States, Europe, and India. It offers payroll processing services; payroll tax administration services; employee payment services; and regulatory compliance services, such as new-hire reporting and garnishment processing.