TD Cowen Raises Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Price Target to $126.00

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its target price hoisted by TD Cowen from $121.00 to $126.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. TD Cowen currently has a hold rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on PAYX. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a sector perform rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Barclays dropped 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 note on Monday, July 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $123.00.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $135.09 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.93, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.00. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $126.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $123.41. Paychex has a 12 month low of $106.27 and a 12 month high of $136.40.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were given a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 8th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.90%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.94%.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In related news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total value of $1,807,281.14. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $674,005.43. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total value of $1,807,281.14. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $674,005.43. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total value of $11,901,732.30. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 437,345 shares in the company, valued at $51,287,448.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 147,163 shares of company stock worth $17,537,817. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paychex

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 8.3% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 61,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,238,000 after purchasing an additional 4,703 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth $1,400,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 85.1% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,259,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $154,263,000 after acquiring an additional 579,136 shares in the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. purchased a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $23,330,000. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at $774,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.