Zacks Research Analysts Raise Earnings Estimates for Paychex

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) – Equities researchers at Zacks Research boosted their FY2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Paychex in a report issued on Wednesday, April 9th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now forecasts that the business services provider will post earnings per share of $4.97 for the year, up from their previous forecast of $4.96. The consensus estimate for Paychex’s current full-year earnings is $4.99 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Paychex’s Q4 2025 earnings at $1.18 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $1.21 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.57 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $1.26 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $5.26 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $1.33 EPS, Q3 2027 earnings at $1.58 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $5.60 EPS.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.38 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on PAYX. Citigroup raised their price target on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Cfra Research raised shares of Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. UBS Group raised their target price on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.00.

Paychex Trading Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $146.75 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $52.86 billion, a PE ratio of 30.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $148.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $144.30. Paychex has a 12 month low of $115.40 and a 12 month high of $158.37.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Continuum Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Paychex in the 3rd quarter worth $89,000. Barclays PLC grew its position in Paychex by 46.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 1,748,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $234,627,000 after acquiring an additional 552,540 shares in the last quarter. Executive Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Paychex during the third quarter worth approximately $260,000. Brophy Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex during the third quarter valued at approximately $232,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,414,072 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,262,700,000 after purchasing an additional 190,937 shares during the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Paychex

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.