Bank of America Increases Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Price Target to $113.00

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its target price boosted by equities research analysts at Bank of America from $111.00 to $113.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “underperform” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Bank of America‘s price target would indicate a potential downside of 4.69% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on PAYX. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $122.62.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $118.56 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $122.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $121.98. Paychex has a 1-year low of $106.27 and a 1-year high of $129.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market cap of $42.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.96.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.29 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Paychex will post 4.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In related news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total value of $2,454,755.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $670,452.65. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Paychex in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Fortis Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Clear Investment Research LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 55.8% during the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 307 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tidemark LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

About Paychex

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, 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.