William Blair Issues Negative Forecast for Paychex Earnings

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) – Analysts at William Blair reduced their Q4 2025 EPS estimates for shares of Paychex in a research note issued to investors on Monday, June 16th. William Blair analyst A. Nicholas now expects that the business services provider will post earnings of $1.20 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $1.21. The consensus estimate for Paychex’s current full-year earnings is $4.99 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Paychex’s Q1 2026 earnings at $1.19 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $1.19 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.62 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $1.32 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $5.32 EPS.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.48 by $0.01. Paychex had a net margin of 31.99% and a return on equity of 45.30%. The company had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.38 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on PAYX. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Cfra Research raised shares of Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Paychex from $152.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $142.55.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $152.52 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $151.59 and its 200-day moving average is $147.58. Paychex has a 52-week low of $115.40 and a 52-week high of $161.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.39. The company has a market cap of $54.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.78, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.92.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paychex

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Paychex by 220.7% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 186 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Paychex in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in Paychex in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total transaction of $544,762.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 78,455 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. This represents a 4.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $1.08 per share. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. This is a boost from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.00%.

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.