Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Given New $158.00 Price Target at Citigroup

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its target price boosted by research analysts at Citigroup from $145.00 to $158.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Citigroup’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 4.73% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $136.83.

Paychex Trading Up 0.4 %

PAYX traded up $0.68 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $150.87. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,049,015 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,796,058. Paychex has a 52-week low of $114.72 and a 52-week high of $158.37. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $148.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $143.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a market cap of $54.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.77, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.38 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Paychex will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Paychex

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $184,216,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Paychex by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,807,554 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $674,115,000 after acquiring an additional 694,651 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its stake in Paychex by 77.9% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,534,145 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $215,164,000 after acquiring an additional 672,010 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its holdings in Paychex by 86.5% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,355,713 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $189,746,000 after acquiring an additional 628,912 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 30,382.8% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 568,809 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $79,758,000 after purchasing an additional 566,943 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.