Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Price Target Raised to $165.00

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its price objective increased by Royal Bank of Canada from $148.00 to $165.00 in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a sector perform rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on PAYX. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays boosted their target price on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $142.55.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX stock opened at $159.31 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $150.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $146.99. Paychex has a 1-year low of $115.40 and a 1-year high of $159.93. 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 $57.38 billion, a PE ratio of 33.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91.

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

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a $1.08 dividend. This is a positive change from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 90.00%.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $544,762.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 78,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. This represents a 4.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paychex

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Paychex by 220.7% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Paychex during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Avion Wealth grew its position in Paychex by 469.8% during the fourth quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by 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.