William Blair Equities Analysts Reduce Earnings Estimates for Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) – Research analysts at William Blair reduced their Q1 2025 earnings estimates for shares of Paychex in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, June 27th. William Blair analyst A. Nicholas now expects that the business services provider will earn $1.16 per share for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $1.19. The consensus estimate for Paychex’s current full-year earnings is $4.98 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Paychex’s Q1 2026 earnings at $1.23 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $1.20 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.58 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $1.27 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $5.28 EPS.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 32.03% and a return on equity of 46.63%. The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Bank of America upped their target price on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $122.62.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of PAYX opened at $118.56 on Friday. Paychex has a 52-week low of $106.27 and a 52-week high of $129.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The company has a market capitalization of $42.68 billion, a PE ratio of 25.39, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.96. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $122.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $121.95.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th were paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.89. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 83.94%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Paychex news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.55, for a total value of $2,454,755.95. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $670,452.65. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 11.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Paychex

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PAYX. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Paychex by 12.8% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,878,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,563,853,000 after acquiring an additional 2,373,894 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Paychex by 155.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 2,478,325 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $304,338,000 after buying an additional 1,508,681 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Paychex during the first quarter valued at approximately $146,617,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Paychex by 229.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,630,944 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $188,655,000 after acquiring an additional 1,136,456 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Paychex by 57.2% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,179,930 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $267,695,000 after acquiring an additional 793,468 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, 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.