Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Receives Average Rating of “Reduce” from Analysts

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) has been assigned an average rating of “Reduce” from the eighteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, twelve have issued a hold recommendation, one has assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $106.3750.

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Paychex from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $100.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Stephens cut their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $99.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Paychex from $98.00 to $94.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 13th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Paychex by 59.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 30,265,174 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,395,583,000 after buying an additional 11,243,295 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Paychex by 17.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 37,765,468 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,787,151,000 after buying an additional 5,549,511 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in shares of Paychex by 4,141.2% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,409,229 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $270,267,000 after buying an additional 2,352,423 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at $257,699,000. Finally, Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the third quarter valued at $117,809,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Trading Up 1.1%

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $95.51 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $92.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $100.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.04 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 1.26. Paychex has a 1 year low of $85.45 and a 1 year high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.78 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 48.52% and a net margin of 25.84%.Paychex’s revenue was up 19.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.49 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th will be given a $1.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 13th. This is a positive change from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.0%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 104.85%.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc, founded in 1971 by B. Thomas “Tom” Golisano and headquartered in Rochester, New York, is a provider of payroll, human resources, and benefits outsourcing solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses. The company’s core services include payroll processing and tax filing, employee benefits administration, retirement services, and workers’ compensation administration, designed to simplify back-office operations and help clients comply with regulatory and tax requirements.

Paychex offers an integrated technology platform, marketed under the Paychex Flex brand, which delivers cloud-based payroll, HR, time and attendance, and reporting tools.