Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Receives $139.87 Average Target Price from Analysts

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) has received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the sixteen research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and thirteen have given a hold rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $139.8667.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PAYX. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Paychex from $140.00 to $126.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Stephens raised Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Wolfe Research dropped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $140.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 26th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $139.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paychex

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 83.8% during the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 215 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. MMA Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Westfuller Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Stock Performance

Paychex stock opened at $111.08 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $125.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $139.55. The stock has a market cap of $39.98 billion, a PE ratio of 24.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.93. Paychex has a 12-month low of $110.16 and a 12-month high of $161.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, September 30th. The business services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 27.85% and a return on equity of 45.17%. The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.54 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.16 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.428-5.528 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Paychex will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Friday, November 7th will be paid a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 97.08%.

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.