Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Citigroup Analyst Says

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its target price raised by research analysts at Citigroup from $145.00 to $158.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Citigroup’s price target indicates a potential upside of 4.61% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on PAYX. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $137.58.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX opened at $151.03 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $54.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.80, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Paychex has a 12-month low of $114.72 and a 12-month high of $158.37. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $148.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $143.23.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.38 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Paychex will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Paychex by 220.7% in the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Paychex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 469.8% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.