Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Reaches New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $151.86 and last traded at $150.83, with a volume of 362231 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $149.89.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.23.

Paychex Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $144.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $139.99. The company has a market cap of $54.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.66, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 82.53%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Paychex

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $184,216,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Paychex by 16.9% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,807,554 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $674,115,000 after acquiring an additional 694,651 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its position in Paychex by 77.9% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,534,145 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $215,164,000 after acquiring an additional 672,010 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in Paychex by 86.5% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,355,713 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $189,746,000 after acquiring an additional 628,912 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Paychex by 30,382.8% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 568,809 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $79,758,000 after acquiring an additional 566,943 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.