BMO Capital Markets Cuts Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Price Target to $140.00

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its price target reduced by BMO Capital Markets from $143.00 to $140.00 in a research note released on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on PAYX. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Paychex from $158.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $142.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Barclays set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Paychex and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $142.77.

Paychex Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $124.61 on Wednesday. Paychex has a 52-week low of $119.02 and a 52-week high of $161.24. The company has a 50 day moving average of $135.66 and a 200 day moving average of $144.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company has a market capitalization of $44.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.92.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 30th. The business services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 27.85% and a return on equity of 45.17%. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.16 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.428-5.528 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Paychex will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st were given a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 21st. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 97.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

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

Institutional Trading of Paychex

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division raised its position in Paychex by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 17,149 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,174,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co of the South raised its position in Paychex by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Co of the South now owns 5,108 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $647,000 after buying an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Caldwell Trust Co purchased a new position in Paychex during the 2nd quarter worth $3,466,000. Milestones Private Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Paychex during the 2nd quarter worth $1,270,000. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its position in Paychex by 13.2% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 113,005 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $16,533,000 after buying an additional 13,214 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

About Paychex

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.