Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Stock

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its target price hoisted by equities research analysts at Barclays from $135.00 to $140.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “equal weight” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Barclays‘s target price would suggest a potential upside of 0.33% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $132.23.

Paychex Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $139.54 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $142.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $132.70. The company has a market capitalization of $50.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38. Paychex has a 52-week low of $114.72 and a 52-week high of $150.71.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Paychex will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other Paychex news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total value of $1,852,685.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. The trade was a 42.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.18, for a total transaction of $2,050,260.58. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at $2,020,197.70. The trade was a 50.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231. Company insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Paychex

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Paychex by 2.0% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 22,636 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,684,000 after buying an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 2nd quarter valued at $259,000. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Paychex by 3.4% in the second quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 5,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $699,000 after buying an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 64.7% during the 2nd quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,069 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,075,000 after purchasing an additional 3,562 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Advocates Investment Management lifted its position in Paychex by 3.5% during the second quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 12,329 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,462,000 after purchasing an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Paychex

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.