Robert W. Baird lowers price target for Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) to $124.00

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX – Free Report) The price target was lowered by Robert W. Baird from $126.00 to $124.00 in a report published on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently rates the business services provider’s stock as “neutral.”

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated their sector perform rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an underperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wedbush reiterated a neutral rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI reiterated an in-line rating and issued a $118.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and issued a hold rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned the company a hold rating. The company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $122.62, according to data from MarketBeat.

Check out our latest stock report on PAYX

Paychex shares rise 0.4%

Paychex stock opened at $117.84 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $122.40 and its 200-day moving average is $122.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.37. The company has a market cap of $42.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.23, a PEG ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.96. Paychex has a 52-week low of $106.27 and a 52-week high of $129.70.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX – Free Report) released its latest earnings results on Wednesday, June 26. The business services provider reported earnings per share of $1.12 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 32.03%. The company posted revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. In the same quarter last year, the company posted earnings per share of $0.97. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter increased 5.3% year-over-year. Equities analysts expect Paychex to report earnings per share of $4.99 for the current year.

Paychex increases dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 10th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This is a positive change from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. This represents an annualized dividend of $3.92 and a yield of 3.33%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 83.94%.

Insider buying and selling

In related news, Director David JS Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of Paychex stock on Friday, May 24. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total value of $2,454,755.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $670,452.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available on the SEC’s website. 11.50% of the shares are owned by insiders.

Institutional inflows and outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their holdings in the company. Ethos Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 1,952 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $232,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,225 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,171,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,908 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $227,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Paychex by 3.8% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,543 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $312,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rogco LP increased its stake in Paychex by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Rogco LP now owns 8,469 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,009,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

About Paychex

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Paychex, Inc. provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, and insurance services to small and medium-sized businesses in the United States, Europe, and India. The company offers payroll services, payroll tax administration services, employee payment services, and regulatory compliance services such as new employee notification and wage garnishment processing.