Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the eleven research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $123.00.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PAYX. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Paychex from $134.00 to $126.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Paychex from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd.

Paychex Price Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $117.79 on Friday. Paychex has a 12 month low of $104.09 and a 12 month high of $129.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $122.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $120.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a market cap of $42.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.93.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.14% and a net margin of 31.86%. The business’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.29 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Paychex will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Paychex announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, January 19th that authorizes the company to repurchase $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to repurchase up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.53, for a total value of $1,865,924.93. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 82,690 shares in the company, valued at $9,966,625.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Paychex

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ethos Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 1,952 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $232,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Paychex by 0.6% in the third quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 15,425 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,779,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Paychex by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,225 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,171,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. increased its holdings in Paychex by 2.3% in the third quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 4,003 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $472,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Penserra Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 6.3% in the first quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 1,535 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, 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.