Q4 2021 EPS Estimates for Paychex, Inc. Reduced by Wedbush (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) – Wedbush cut their Q4 2021 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Paychex in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, April 6th. Wedbush analyst M. Katri now forecasts that the business services provider will post earnings of $0.67 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $0.71. Wedbush also issued estimates for Paychex’s Q2 2022 earnings at $0.80 EPS, Q3 2022 earnings at $0.93 EPS, Q4 2022 earnings at $0.76 EPS and FY2022 earnings at $3.21 EPS.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 5th. The business services provider reported $0.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $1.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.11 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 26.66% and a return on equity of 37.99%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.97 earnings per share.

PAYX has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Paychex from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $94.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday. Smith Barney Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $93.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $85.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup Inc. 3% Minimum Coupon Principal Protected Based Upon Russell upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $93.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $81.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Paychex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $93.00.

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $94.81 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $34.19 billion, a PE ratio of 32.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 0.90. Paychex has a 12 month low of $60.00 and a 12 month high of $101.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $94.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $89.98.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 25th. Investors of record on Monday, February 1st were paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.62%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 29th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 82.67%.

In other Paychex news, VP John B. Gibson sold 82,488 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.79, for a total value of $7,406,597.52. Also, CEO Martin Mucci sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.09, for a total transaction of $4,554,500.00. 11.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of PAYX. JJJ Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Paychex by 857.1% in the fourth quarter. JJJ Advisors Inc. now owns 268 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Reby Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Pflug Koory LLC bought a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Birchcreek Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. 70.00% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Paychex Company Profile

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

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