Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Price Target Cut to $94.00 by Analysts at UBS Group

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its price target lowered by research analysts at UBS Group from $98.00 to $94.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the business services provider’s stock. UBS Group’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 5.24% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on PAYX. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Paychex from $137.00 to $126.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $100.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Paychex from $123.00 to $107.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $99.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised Paychex to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $106.38.

Paychex Price Performance

NASDAQ PAYX traded up $3.75 during trading on Monday, hitting $89.32. 4,372,517 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,043,576. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company has a market cap of $32.00 billion, a PE ratio of 19.67 and a beta of 0.88. Paychex has a fifty-two week low of $85.45 and a fifty-two week high of $161.24. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $93.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $107.76.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.78 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 25.84% and a return on equity of 48.52%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.49 EPS. Research analysts expect that Paychex will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Paychex announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, January 16th that permits the company to buyback $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paychex

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Paychex by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 42,348,625 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,750,669,000 after acquiring an additional 4,583,157 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Paychex by 59.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 30,265,174 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,395,583,000 after purchasing an additional 11,243,295 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Paychex by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 13,988,393 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,569,218,000 after purchasing an additional 216,045 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,550,173 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,295,698,000 after purchasing an additional 263,152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,705,424 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,093,958,000 after purchasing an additional 78,760 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc, founded in 1971 by B. Thomas “Tom” Golisano and headquartered in Rochester, New York, is a provider of payroll, human resources, and benefits outsourcing solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses. The company’s core services include payroll processing and tax filing, employee benefits administration, retirement services, and workers’ compensation administration, designed to simplify back-office operations and help clients comply with regulatory and tax requirements.

Paychex offers an integrated technology platform, marketed under the Paychex Flex brand, which delivers cloud-based payroll, HR, time and attendance, and reporting tools.