Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Receives $123.17 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) has been assigned an average rating of “Reduce” from the eleven research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $122.77.

Several equities analysts have commented on PAYX shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Paychex from $134.00 to $126.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $123.00 price target (down previously from $132.00) on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 22nd. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 22nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 16,031 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.79, for a total transaction of $1,920,353.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $644,829.57. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 16,031 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.79, for a total transaction of $1,920,353.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $644,829.57. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.53, for a total transaction of $1,865,924.93. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 82,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,966,625.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC purchased a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth $642,000. Fairman Group LLC purchased a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth $65,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Paychex by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 679,598 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $80,947,000 after acquiring an additional 3,513 shares in the last quarter. M3 Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth $311,000. Finally, Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter worth $71,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paychex Price Performance

Paychex stock opened at $119.58 on Wednesday. Paychex has a 52 week low of $104.09 and a 52 week high of $129.70. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $121.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $119.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23. The stock has a market cap of $43.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.94.

Paychex announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Friday, January 19th that allows the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the business services provider to reacquire up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $0.89 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 12th. This represents a $3.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.98%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 79.11%.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, 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.