William Blair Predicts Paychex’s Q2 Earnings (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) – Equities research analysts at William Blair decreased their Q2 2026 EPS estimates for Paychex in a research report issued on Tuesday, September 30th. William Blair analyst A. Nicholas now expects that the business services provider will earn $1.22 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $1.23. The consensus estimate for Paychex’s current full-year earnings is $4.99 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Paychex’s Q4 2026 earnings at $1.36 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $5.46 EPS.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, September 30th. The business services provider reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.54 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 27.85% and a return on equity of 45.17%. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.16 earnings per share. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.428-5.528 EPS.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Paychex and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $132.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Paychex from $142.00 to $137.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $142.77.

Paychex Price Performance

Paychex stock opened at $124.61 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $135.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $144.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market cap of $44.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.92. Paychex has a 12-month low of $119.02 and a 12-month high of $161.24.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st were issued a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 21st. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 97.08%.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other news, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.92, for a total transaction of $1,755,550.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 81,755 shares in the company, valued at $11,602,669.60. The trade was a 13.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.17, for a total value of $14,157,849.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman owned 446,917 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $64,878,940.89. This represents a 17.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division increased its position in shares of Paychex by 1.6% during the third quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 17,149 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,174,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co of the South boosted its stake in Paychex by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Trust Co of the South now owns 5,108 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $647,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Caldwell Trust Co acquired a new position in Paychex in the 2nd quarter worth $3,466,000. Milestones Private Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Paychex during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,270,000. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 13.2% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 113,005 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $16,533,000 after purchasing an additional 13,214 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

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.