Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) PT Raised to $133.00

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its price objective increased by Morgan Stanley from $122.00 to $133.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective suggests a potential downside of 5.53% from the stock’s current price.

PAYX has been the topic of several other reports. TD Cowen upped their target price on Paychex from $121.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Citigroup boosted 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. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Barclays raised 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $126.46.

Paychex Trading Up 4.9 %

Shares of PAYX opened at $140.79 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $50.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex has a 1 year low of $106.27 and a 1 year high of $141.59. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $129.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $124.49.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Paychex will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Paychex

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position 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 worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 227.6% during the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 249 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the first quarter worth $31,000. Finally, ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the 1st quarter worth $31,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.