Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Issues Earnings Results

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.38 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. 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

PAYX stock opened at $150.19 on Thursday. Paychex has a 1-year low of $114.72 and a 1-year high of $158.37. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $148.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $143.04. The company has a market capitalization of $54.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.62, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.61%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on PAYX shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $134.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Paychex stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 26.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,190 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $801,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.