Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Shares Gap Up Following Earnings Beat

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) shares gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $144.13, but opened at $148.81. Paychex shares last traded at $151.53, with a volume of 805,658 shares traded.

The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.38 EPS. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 81.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PAYX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup boosted their price target on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $137.58.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paychex

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 89,971 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,616,000 after buying an additional 3,406 shares during the last quarter. Aegis Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter worth $370,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at $367,000. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Paychex by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,303 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $603,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the period. Finally, GHE LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. GHE LLC now owns 21,365 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,996,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Up 1.1 %

The firm has a market cap of $54.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.96, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $148.13 and its 200 day moving average is $143.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39.

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.