Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Price Target Lowered to $143.00 at BMO Capital Markets

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its price objective trimmed by BMO Capital Markets from $160.00 to $143.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has a market perform rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the stock. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Paychex and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Barclays set a $155.00 target price on shares of Paychex and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Paychex from $148.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Paychex from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $145.91.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX stock opened at $128.21 on Wednesday. Paychex has a 1-year low of $126.13 and a 1-year high of $161.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market cap of $46.11 billion, a PE ratio of 28.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.91. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $137.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $145.09.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.19. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.01% and a net margin of 29.75%.The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.12 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Paychex will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st were issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 21st. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 94.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Paychex news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.17, for a total value of $14,157,849.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman owned 446,917 shares in the company, valued at $64,878,940.89. This trade represents a 17.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.92, for a total transaction of $1,755,550.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 81,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,602,669.60. This trade represents a 13.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paychex

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. NewSquare Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 83.8% in the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 215 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Paychex in the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Paychex in the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Tsfg LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 122.3% during the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 229 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Company Profile

Paychex, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated human capital management solutions (HCM) for payroll, benefits, human resources (HR), 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.