Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $150.75 and last traded at $150.54, with a volume of 726850 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $149.51.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on PAYX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays raised their price target on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $132.23.

Paychex Stock Down 2.2 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $52.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.03 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $143.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $137.89.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 82.53%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paychex

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Avion Wealth raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 469.8% in the 4th quarter. Avion Wealth now owns 245 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 42.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 250 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. MilWealth Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Asset Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

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.