Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Price Target Increased to $130.00 by Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its target price boosted by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group from $120.00 to $130.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “hold” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective indicates a potential downside of 6.72% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $121.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $130.77.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX stock opened at $139.36 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $130.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $124.70. Paychex has a one year low of $106.27 and a one year high of $142.04. The company has a market capitalization of $50.13 billion, a PE ratio of 29.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.14 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Paychex will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.53, for a total transaction of $1,514,445.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,745 shares in the company, valued at $6,663,199.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total transaction of $1,106,714.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,793,075.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.53, for a total transaction of $1,514,445.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,663,199.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 45,673 shares of company stock valued at $5,636,085 in the last quarter. 11.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 33,639 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,007,000 after buying an additional 797 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors purchased a new position in Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at about $115,494,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 89.0% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 48,943 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,830,000 after purchasing an additional 23,047 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its position in shares of Paychex by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 22,118 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,634,000 after purchasing an additional 906 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Advisor Networks LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 6.1% during the fourth quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 73,067 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,703,000 after purchasing an additional 4,177 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.