Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Upgraded at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) to a strong sell rating in a report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Paychex from $153.00 to $140.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 target price on Paychex and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Argus dropped their target price on Paychex from $170.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Citigroup dropped their target price on Paychex from $158.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their target price on Paychex from $140.00 to $126.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $139.87.

Paychex Trading Down 0.1%

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $124.60 on Wednesday. Paychex has a 12 month low of $119.02 and a 12 month high of $161.24. The stock has a market cap of $44.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.92. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $131.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $142.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, September 30th. The business services provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.17% and a net margin of 27.85%.The firm had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.54 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.16 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly 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, equities analysts forecast that Paychex will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Friday, November 7th will be paid a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 97.08%.

Institutional Trading of Paychex

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in Paychex by 118.5% during the 1st quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 136,876 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $21,117,000 after purchasing an additional 74,245 shares during the period. Martin Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Paychex by 166.9% in the 2nd quarter. Martin Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,340 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $922,000 after acquiring an additional 3,965 shares during the last quarter. MWA Asset Management increased its stake in Paychex by 6.5% in the 1st quarter. MWA Asset Management now owns 4,269 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $659,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in Paychex in the 1st quarter worth approximately $832,000. Finally, Two Point Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Paychex in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $8,761,000. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

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.