Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Posts Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.01 EPS

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) posted its earnings results on Wednesday. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01, Briefing.com reports. Paychex had a net margin of 32.02% and a return on equity of 45.28%. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.38 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Paychex updated its FY25 guidance to $4.96-5.05 EPS and its FY 2025 guidance to 4.960-5.050 EPS.

Paychex Trading Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ PAYX opened at $151.83 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $148.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $143.10. Paychex has a one year low of $114.72 and a one year high of $158.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. The firm has a market cap of $54.67 billion, a PE ratio of 31.96, a P/E/G ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.98.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.67%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paychex

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Paychex stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 26.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,190 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $801,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PAYX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Barclays upped their price objective on Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $137.58.

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.