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

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) announced its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.14 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 Stock Up 4.9 %

Shares of PAYX stock opened at $140.79 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market cap of $50.68 billion, a PE ratio of 30.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.00. The business’s fifty day moving average is $129.53 and its 200-day moving average is $124.49. Paychex has a 1 year low of $106.27 and a 1 year high of $141.59.

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 given 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 83.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on PAYX shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Bank of America increased their target price on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Citigroup boosted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $120.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $125.62.

Insider Activity

In other Paychex news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total value of $1,106,714.40. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares in the company, valued at $9,793,075.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $676,104.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares in the company, valued at $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 over the last 90 days. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.