Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eighteen analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have given a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $127.59.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on PAYX shares. Guggenheim reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $110.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 28th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $112.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Paychex from $95.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, CFO Robert Schrader sold 2,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.09, for a total value of $299,234.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 18,547 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,134,574.23. The trade was a 12.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Paychex

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Tompkins Financial Corp grew its position in Paychex by 2.6% during the third quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 14,099 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,389,000 after buying an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. Rockland Trust Co. raised its position in Paychex by 6.3% in the third quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 13,293 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,309,000 after purchasing an additional 792 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Paychex by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,411,341 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,417,067,000 after acquiring an additional 361,713 shares during the period. Talon Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the second quarter valued at $220,000. Finally, Rench Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Paychex by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Rench Wealth Management Inc. now owns 56,948 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,600,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $101.55 on Thursday. Paychex has a 12-month low of $85.45 and a 12-month high of $129.24. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $116.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $104.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The company has a market cap of $36.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.86.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 27.35% and a return on equity of 52.78%. The business had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.22 earnings per share. Paychex’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Paychex has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.896-6.006 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Paychex will post 5.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 28th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, July 28th were given a dividend of $1.19 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, July 28th. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.7%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.44%.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc (NASDAQ: PAYX) provides payroll, human resources and employee benefits solutions for businesses of varying sizes. Its services are designed to help employers manage workforce administration, compliance and employee-related processes through integrated software and professional support.

The company’s offerings include payroll processing, time and attendance tracking, human resources administration, recruiting and onboarding tools, benefits administration, retirement services, workers’ compensation and business insurance solutions.