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

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.12 by $0.02, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. 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

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $139.54 on Friday. Paychex has a 12 month low of $114.72 and a 12 month high of $150.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market cap of $50.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.75, a PEG ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.99. The company’s 50 day moving average is $142.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $132.62.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s payout ratio is 83.58%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on PAYX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.62.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. The trade was a 42.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $3,674,284.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at $2,018,020.45. This trade represents a 64.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

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.