Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Releases Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.01 EPS

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.38 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Paychex updated its FY25 guidance to $4.96-5.05 EPS.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX stock opened at $144.13 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $51.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.34, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 1.39 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $147.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $142.99. Paychex has a 1 year low of $114.72 and a 1 year high of $158.37.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. Paychex’s payout ratio is currently 82.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on PAYX shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have given a hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $133.23.

Institutional Trading of Paychex

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Paychex stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 26.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,190 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $801,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.