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

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The business services provider reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02, Briefing.com reports. The firm had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 32.03%. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business 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 Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $140.79 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The business has a 50 day moving average of $129.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $124.49. Paychex has a 52 week low of $106.27 and a 52 week high of $141.59. The company has a market cap of $50.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.15, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.00.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 8th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.78%. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 83.94%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on PAYX shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Citigroup increased their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $125.62.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,745 shares in the company, valued at $6,663,199.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Paychex news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total value of $1,207,644.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $676,104.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,670 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 55,745 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,663,199.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 45,673 shares of company stock worth $5,636,085 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.50% 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.