Stifel Nicolaus Issues Positive Forecast for Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Stock Price

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its target price lifted by Stifel Nicolaus from $141.00 to $156.00 in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the business services provider’s stock.

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

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX opened at $151.03 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $148.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $143.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Paychex has a twelve month low of $114.72 and a twelve month high of $158.37. The company has a market cap of $54.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.60%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.67%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,521,025 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,419,878,000 after purchasing an additional 174,817 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Paychex by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 26,905,031 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,772,544,000 after buying an additional 166,155 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,230,236 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,775,365,000 after buying an additional 60,455 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,044,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,408,458,000 after buying an additional 519,761 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,541,034 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,339,463,000 after acquiring an additional 126,962 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

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.