Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Given Consensus Rating of “Reduce” by Analysts

Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) have received an average rating of “Reduce” from the eighteen research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $106.3750.

Several research firms recently issued reports on PAYX. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $99.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Guggenheim began coverage on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Paychex from $95.00 to $94.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Paychex from $116.00 to $95.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, April 24th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PAYX. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 26.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $801,000 after purchasing an additional 1,190 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,035 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $566,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new stake in Paychex during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,333,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 41,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,976,000 after purchasing an additional 1,290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its stake in Paychex by 47.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 156,680 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $22,790,000 after purchasing an additional 50,169 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $93.93 on Monday. Paychex has a 52 week low of $85.45 and a 52 week high of $161.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $92.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $103.62. The company has a market capitalization of $33.65 billion, a PE ratio of 20.69 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 25th. The business services provider reported $1.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.78 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 48.52% and a net margin of 25.84%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.49 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Paychex will post 5.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Friday, January 16th that allows the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to buy up to 2.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $1.19 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 13th. This is a positive change from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.08. This represents a $4.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.1%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 95.15%.

Paychex Company Profile

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.