Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) has received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the seventeen ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have issued a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $105.6667.

A number of equities analysts recently commented on PAYX shares. Stephens lowered their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Guggenheim started coverage on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Paychex to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paychex

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 957.1% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 296 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares in the last quarter. Stance Capital LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the third quarter valued at $31,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Kingdom Financial Group LLC. acquired a new position in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Up 3.3%

Paychex stock opened at $99.90 on Tuesday. Paychex has a twelve month low of $85.45 and a twelve month high of $148.76. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.43 and a beta of 0.84.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, June 24th. The business services provider reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.60 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 27.03% and a return on equity of 50.90%. The company’s revenue was up 12.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. Paychex has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.900-6.010 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Paychex will post 5.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th were paid a $1.19 dividend. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 13th. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 97.34%.

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.