William Blair Weighs in on Paychex, Inc.’s Q1 2025 Earnings (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) – Stock analysts at William Blair reduced their Q1 2025 earnings estimates for Paychex in a research report issued on Thursday, June 27th. William Blair analyst A. Nicholas now forecasts that the business services provider will post earnings per share of $1.16 for the quarter, down from their previous forecast of $1.19. The consensus estimate for Paychex’s current full-year earnings is $4.99 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 26th. The business services provider reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.63% and a net margin of 32.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.97 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on PAYX. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI reiterated an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Paychex from $111.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Two equities 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, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $122.62.

Paychex Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $118.56 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $42.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 0.96. Paychex has a twelve month low of $106.27 and a twelve month 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’s 50 day moving average is $122.38 and its 200 day moving average is $121.98.

Paychex Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 19,709 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $670,452.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Paychex

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Paychex during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. ESL Trust Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Fortis Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Clear Investment Research LLC grew its stake in Paychex by 55.8% during the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 307 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Paychex Company Profile

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.