Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.02 EPS

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

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX stock opened at $139.36 on Friday. Paychex has a 1 year low of $106.27 and a 1 year high of $142.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $50.13 billion, a PE ratio of 29.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $130.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $124.70.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 8th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 83.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.53, for a total value of $1,514,445.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,745 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,663,199.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.53, for a total transaction of $1,514,445.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 55,745 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,663,199.85. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total transaction of $1,207,644.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,383 shares in the company, valued at $676,104.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 45,673 shares of company stock worth $5,636,085. 11.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on PAYX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Paychex from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and twelve have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.77.

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.