Research Analysts Set Expectations for Paychex Q4 Earnings

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) – Investment analysts at Zacks Research decreased their Q4 2025 EPS estimates for Paychex in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, October 15th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now anticipates that the business services provider will earn $1.19 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $1.20. The consensus estimate for Paychex’s current full-year earnings is $4.98 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Paychex’s Q1 2026 earnings at $1.22 EPS, Q1 2027 earnings at $1.32 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $5.55 EPS.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 1st. The business services provider reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.97% and a net margin of 31.98%. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share.

PAYX has been the topic of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped 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. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $118.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $130.77.

Paychex Price Performance

Paychex stock opened at $142.32 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.38. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $133.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $126.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 1.00. Paychex has a 1 year low of $106.27 and a 1 year high of $144.17.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Paychex by 286.0% during the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 220 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex by 227.6% during the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 249 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Paychex during the second quarter worth $30,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the first quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, ESL Trust Services LLC purchased a new position in Paychex in the first quarter valued at $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total transaction of $1,106,714.40. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 79,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,793,075.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director David J. S. Flaschen sold 9,615 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.60, for a total value of $1,207,644.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,383 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $676,104.80. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 8,954 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.60, for a total value of $1,106,714.40. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 79,232 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,793,075.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 87,177 shares of company stock valued at $11,698,870 in the last quarter. Insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a $0.98 dividend. This represents a $3.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.94%.

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.