TD Cowen Cuts Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Price Target to $114.00

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its price objective lowered by TD Cowen from $126.00 to $114.00 in a research note released on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a hold rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on PAYX. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Paychex from $142.00 to $137.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 1st. Wolfe Research cut their price objective on Paychex from $145.00 to $140.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 26th. Argus decreased their target price on Paychex from $170.00 to $150.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Cowen reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Paychex in a research report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $139.00 price target on the stock. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $139.07.

Paychex Trading Up 2.4%

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $113.39 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.48 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $118.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $135.46. Paychex has a 12 month low of $108.00 and a 12 month high of $161.24.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 30th. The business services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.54 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.16 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.428-5.528 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th were given a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 97.08%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paychex

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. LGT Group Foundation raised its position in Paychex by 2.8% during the first quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 2,528 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $390,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Paychex by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,954 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,012,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. lifted its holdings in Paychex by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 2,305 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $335,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 11,267 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,639,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantum Portfolio Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 3.1% during the second quarter. Quantum Portfolio Management LLC now owns 2,464 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $358,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in 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.