UBS Group Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Stock Price

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) had its price target dropped by analysts at UBS Group from $155.00 to $145.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the business services provider’s stock. UBS Group’s price target indicates a potential upside of 0.74% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 target price on Paychex and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Cfra Research upgraded Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Citigroup set a $158.00 target price on Paychex and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $149.11.

Paychex Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $143.94 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $51.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.92. Paychex has a 1 year low of $115.40 and a 1 year high of $161.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $151.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $147.76.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.19. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.01% and a net margin of 29.75%. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.12 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Paychex will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $544,762.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. This represents a 4.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 11.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Summit Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in Paychex by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Summit Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,027 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $467,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. LGT Group Foundation raised its position in Paychex by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 2,528 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $390,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners raised its position in Paychex by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 7,623 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,176,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Paychex by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,192 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $492,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Finally, King Wealth Management Group raised its position in Paychex by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. King Wealth Management Group now owns 1,669 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $257,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is 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.