Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $127.59

Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eighteen research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, thirteen have issued a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $127.88.

PAYX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Paychex from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $120.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Stephens cut their price objective on Paychex from $132.00 to $113.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on Paychex from $112.00 to $96.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 28th.

Paychex Stock Up 2.5%

PAYX opened at $112.12 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $112.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $103.59. Paychex has a twelve month low of $85.45 and a twelve month high of $127.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.28. The firm has a market cap of $39.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.86.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, September 23rd. The business services provider reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 52.78% and a net margin of 27.35%. The company had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Paychex has set its FY 2027 guidance at 5.896-6.006 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Paychex will post 5.96 EPS for the current year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 26th will be issued a dividend of $1.19 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, October 26th. This represents a $4.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 94.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, Director Joseph Velli sold 7,839 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.68, for a total value of $844,103.52. Following the sale, the director owned 81,725 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,800,148. This trade represents a 8.75% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Paychex

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Optimist Retirement Group LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 546.1% during the third quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 23,732 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,338,000 after acquiring an additional 20,059 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC boosted its stake in Paychex by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 12,921 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,273,000 after purchasing an additional 1,991 shares during the period. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 34.6% during the 3rd quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC now owns 6,365 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $627,000 after purchasing an additional 1,637 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. now owns 88,307 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,770,000 after purchasing an additional 7,843 shares during the period. Finally, Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 32.7% during the 3rd quarter. Provenance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,034 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $791,000 after acquiring an additional 1,981 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc provides payroll, human resources and employee-benefits solutions to small and medium-sized businesses. Its offerings include payroll processing, tax administration, time and attendance management, recruiting, onboarding, human resources administration, compliance support and employee benefits services.

The company also provides retirement-plan services, insurance solutions and professional employer organization services. Through its software and outsourced services, Paychex helps employers manage workforce administration, employee data and regulatory requirements.

Paychex was founded in 1971 by B.