Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Announces Earnings Results

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) issued its earnings results on Wednesday. The business services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.19, Zacks reports. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.38 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.01% and a net margin of 29.75%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.12 earnings per share. Paychex updated its FY 2026 guidance to EPS.

Paychex Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $141.01 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market cap of $50.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.86, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a 50 day moving average of $151.75 and a 200-day moving average of $147.75. Paychex has a 12-month low of $115.40 and a 12-month high of $161.24.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a $1.08 dividend. This is a positive change from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.06%. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 90.00%.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 78,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,709,408.75. This trade represents a 4.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 11.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bison Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 4,035 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $566,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Paychex by 26.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $801,000 after purchasing an additional 1,190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP bought a new position in Paychex during the first quarter worth about $3,333,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the topic of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Paychex from $156.00 to $152.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Barclays set a $155.00 price target on shares of Paychex and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group set a $140.00 price target on Paychex and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 price objective on Paychex and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup set a $158.00 price target on Paychex and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten 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 $143.00.

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.