Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.02 EPS

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) issued its earnings results on Tuesday. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.02, Briefing.com reports. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 32.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Paychex updated its FY25 guidance to $4.96-5.05 EPS and its FY 2025 guidance to 4.960-5.050 EPS.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $140.76 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $50.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex has a 52 week low of $106.27 and a 52 week high of $142.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.37. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $129.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $124.60.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 8th. Paychex’s payout ratio is presently 83.94%.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other Paychex news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total value of $1,106,714.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares in the company, valued at $9,793,075.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 14,434 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.21, for a total value of $1,807,281.14. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at approximately $674,005.43. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total value of $1,106,714.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 79,232 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,793,075.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,673 shares of company stock worth $5,636,085 in the last three months. Insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on PAYX shares. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Paychex presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $130.71.

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.