Jefferies Financial Group Raises Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Price Target to $130.00

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its price target boosted by equities research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from $120.00 to $130.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “hold” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective points to a potential downside of 8.00% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. UBS Group upped their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $121.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $130.36.

Paychex Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Paychex stock traded up $0.52 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $141.31. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 451,399 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,814,595. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $129.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $124.49. The company has a market capitalization of $50.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex has a one year low of $106.27 and a one year high of $141.59.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Paychex will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other Paychex news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total value of $1,106,714.40. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares in the company, valued at $9,793,075.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total value of $1,106,714.40. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 79,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,793,075.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.53, for a total transaction of $1,514,445.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 55,745 shares in the company, valued at $6,663,199.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 45,673 shares of company stock worth $5,636,085. Insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paychex

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 286.0% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 220 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 227.6% during the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 249 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, American National Bank boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 166.7% in the second quarter. American National Bank now owns 288 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.