Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX - Free Report) - Stock analysts at William Blair reduced their Q1 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Paychex in a research report issued on Monday, July 22nd. William Blair analyst A. Nicholas now forecasts that the business services provider will earn $1.13 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $1.16. The consensus estimate for Paychex's current full-year earnings is $4.99 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Paychex's Q4 2025 earnings at $1.23 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $1.20 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.57 EPS and Q4 2026 earnings at $1.31 EPS.
A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Wedbush reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI reiterated an "in-line" rating and issued a $118.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Barclays dropped their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $118.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $122.46.
Get Our Latest Analysis on Paychex
Paychex Price Performance
NASDAQ PAYX traded down $0.47 on Wednesday, hitting $123.24. 2,783,942 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,864,876. Paychex has a 52 week low of $106.27 and a 52 week high of $129.70. The stock has a market cap of $44.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $121.93 and a 200-day moving average of $121.74.
Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.10 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 32.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis.
Institutional Trading of Paychex
Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mutual Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $281,000. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 812,585 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $96,787,000 after buying an additional 52,076 shares during the period. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $151,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 48,793 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,812,000 after buying an additional 6,148 shares during the period. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $318,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Paychex news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total transaction of $11,901,732.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 437,345 shares in the company, valued at approximately $51,287,448.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Paychex news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total transaction of $2,454,755.95. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $670,452.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 101,490 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.27, for a total value of $11,901,732.30. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 437,345 shares of the company's stock, valued at $51,287,448.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 133,869 shares of company stock valued at $15,870,933 in the last three months. Insiders own 11.50% of the company's stock.
Paychex Announces Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 8th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 8th. Paychex's dividend payout ratio is currently 83.94%.
About Paychex
(
Get Free Report)
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.
Featured Articles
![Earnings History and Estimates for Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX)](https://www.marketbeat.com/scripts/EarningsEstimatesChart.ashx?Prefix=NASDAQ&Symbol=PAYX)
Before you consider Paychex, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Paychex wasn't on the list.
While Paychex currently has a "Reduce" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
MarketBeat's analysts have just released their top five short plays for September 2024. Learn which stocks have the most short interest and how to trade them. Click the link below to see which companies made the list.
Get This Free Report
Like this article? Share it with a colleague.
Link copied to clipboard.