Paychex’s (PAYX) Sector Perform Rating Reaffirmed at Royal Bank of Canada

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX)‘s stock had its “sector perform” rating reiterated by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $148.00 price objective on the business services provider’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price suggests a potential upside of 7.68% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. TD Cowen increased their target price on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.62.

Paychex Stock Performance

Paychex stock traded down $0.36 on Friday, reaching $137.45. 748,330 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,796,764. The stock has a market cap of $49.47 billion, a PE ratio of 29.31, a PEG ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $142.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $132.49. Paychex has a twelve month low of $114.72 and a twelve month high of $150.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. The firm 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 company earned $1.08 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex will post 4.98 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In related news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total transaction of $1,852,685.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. This represents a 42.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total transaction of $3,674,284.84. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,018,020.45. This represents a 64.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 27.4% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 988,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $132,636,000 after acquiring an additional 212,700 shares in the last quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD grew its position in Paychex by 4.6% in the third quarter. Guinness Asset Management LTD now owns 1,567,667 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $210,282,000 after purchasing an additional 68,627 shares in the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its stake in Paychex by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 1,703,913 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $202,016,000 after buying an additional 114,132 shares during the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC bought a new stake in Paychex during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,557,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 169.9% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,624 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,023,000 after buying an additional 4,799 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.