Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Barclays Analyst Says

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its target price increased by analysts at Barclays from $140.00 to $155.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 1.82% from the company’s current price.

PAYX has been the topic of several other reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $138.83.

Paychex Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Paychex stock traded up $1.20 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $152.23. 456,448 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,890,300. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Paychex has a 52-week low of $114.72 and a 52-week high of $158.37. The company has a fifty day moving average of $148.22 and a 200-day moving average of $143.37.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.38 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paychex

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Paychex by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 89,971 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,616,000 after buying an additional 3,406 shares during the period. Aegis Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at $370,000. Wood Tarver Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at about $367,000. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,303 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $603,000 after buying an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GHE LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. GHE LLC now owns 21,365 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,996,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Company Profile

Paychex, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated human capital management solutions (HCM) for payroll, benefits, human resources (HR), 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.