Paychex, Inc. Forecasted to Earn Q4 2024 Earnings of $1.10 Per Share (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) – Stock analysts at Zacks Research cut their Q4 2024 earnings per share estimates for shares of Paychex in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, April 16th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now expects that the business services provider will post earnings of $1.10 per share for the quarter, down from their previous estimate of $1.12. The consensus estimate for Paychex’s current full-year earnings is $4.71 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Paychex’s Q2 2025 earnings at $1.14 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $1.40 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $1.21 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $4.95 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $1.31 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $1.25 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $5.31 EPS.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.01. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.14% and a net margin of 31.86%. The firm had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.29 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Barclays dropped their target price on Paychex from $126.00 to $120.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Paychex from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Paychex has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

Paychex Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of PAYX opened at $119.14 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $122.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $120.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.24. Paychex has a 52-week low of $104.09 and a 52-week high of $129.70. The company has a market cap of $42.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.96, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.93.

Paychex declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Friday, January 19th that permits the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to repurchase up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.53, for a total transaction of $1,865,924.93. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 82,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,966,625.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 11.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Paychex by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,418,038 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,623,093,000 after acquiring an additional 487,031 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 9.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 18,504,389 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,204,115,000 after buying an additional 1,523,520 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 8.9% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 11,331,387 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,306,849,000 after buying an additional 927,584 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 0.8% during the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,982,029 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $913,599,000 after buying an additional 62,739 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Paychex by 2.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,797,671 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $783,975,000 after buying an additional 178,316 shares during the period. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.