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

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) issued 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 during 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. Paychex updated its FY25 guidance to $4.96-5.05 EPS.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX opened at $135.86 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. Paychex has a 12 month low of $114.72 and a 12 month high of $150.71. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $142.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $132.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.97, a PEG ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.99.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In related news, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total value of $1,852,685.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 17,362 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. This trade represents a 42.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 26,428 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.03, for a total value of $3,674,284.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,018,020.45. This trade represents a 64.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 54,174 shares of company stock worth $7,577,231. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Citigroup raised their price target on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $131.62.

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.