Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Issues FY25 Earnings Guidance

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) updated its FY25 earnings guidance on Thursday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $4.96-5.05 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $4.97. The company issued revenue guidance of $5.49-5.57 billion, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $5.52 billion.

Paychex Stock Performance

Shares of Paychex stock opened at $135.86 on Thursday. Paychex has a 52 week low of $114.72 and a 52 week high of $150.71. The company has a market capitalization of $48.90 billion, a PE ratio of 28.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $142.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $132.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a net margin of 31.98% and a return on equity of 45.97%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.08 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Paychex will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 83.58%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PAYX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on Paychex from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Paychex from $125.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $126.00 to $131.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.62.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other news, VP Michael E. Gioja sold 14,731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $139.18, for a total transaction of $2,050,260.58. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 14,515 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,020,197.70. The trade was a 50.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Robert L. Schrader sold 13,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.35, for a total transaction of $1,852,685.25. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 17,362 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,471,480.70. This trade represents a 42.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 54,174 shares of company stock valued at $7,577,231. Corporate insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

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.