Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Updates FY 2025 Earnings Guidance

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) issued an update on its FY 2025 earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 4.960-5.050 for the period, compared to the consensus estimate of 4.980. The company issued revenue guidance of $5.5 billion-$5.6 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $5.5 billion. Paychex also updated its FY25 guidance to $4.96-5.05 EPS.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of PAYX traded up $1.95 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $137.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,199,457 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,801,356. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $142.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $132.49. Paychex has a fifty-two week low of $114.72 and a fifty-two week high of $150.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $49.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.38, a PEG ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.99.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Paychex will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. Paychex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on PAYX shares. UBS Group increased their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $131.62.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other Paychex news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total value of $3,674,284.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,018,020.45. The trade was a 64.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total transaction of $1,852,685.25. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at $2,471,480.70. This represents a 42.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231. 11.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.