Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) PT Raised to $148.00 at Royal Bank of Canada

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its target price lifted by equities researchers at Royal Bank of Canada from $130.00 to $148.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “sector perform” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 6.20% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on PAYX. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $121.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $130.77.

Paychex Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ PAYX opened at $139.36 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $130.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $124.70. Paychex has a 12 month low of $106.27 and a 12 month high of $142.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a market cap of $50.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.84, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. The business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Paychex will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Paychex news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,745 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,663,199.85. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,663,199.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total transaction of $1,106,714.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 79,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,793,075.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 45,673 shares of company stock worth $5,636,085. 11.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Paychex by 286.0% during the second quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 220 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 227.6% during the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 249 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Paychex in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex during the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, ESL Trust Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors 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.