What is William Blair’s Estimate for Paychex Q2 Earnings?

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) – Investment analysts at William Blair cut their Q2 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Paychex in a research note issued on Tuesday, September 30th. William Blair analyst A. Nicholas now forecasts that the business services provider will earn $1.22 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $1.23. The consensus estimate for Paychex’s current full-year earnings is $4.99 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Paychex’s Q4 2026 earnings at $1.36 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $5.46 EPS.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Wolfe Research lowered their target price on Paychex from $145.00 to $140.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Paychex from $158.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Paychex from $153.00 to $148.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Paychex from $148.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $142.83.

Paychex Stock Down 0.5%

PAYX opened at $123.42 on Friday. Paychex has a twelve month low of $119.02 and a twelve month high of $161.24. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $136.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $144.55. The stock has a market cap of $44.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.73, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, September 30th. The business services provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.54 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.17% and a net margin of 27.85%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.16 EPS. Paychex has set its FY 2026 guidance at 5.428-5.528 EPS.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 21st were given a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 21st. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 97.08%.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other Paychex news, Chairman Martin Mucci sold 97,526 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.17, for a total value of $14,157,849.42. Following the sale, the chairman directly owned 446,917 shares in the company, valued at $64,878,940.89. This represents a 17.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO John B. Gibson sold 12,370 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.92, for a total transaction of $1,755,550.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 81,755 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,602,669.60. The trade was a 13.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paychex

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Paychex by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 32,215,957 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,686,133,000 after acquiring an additional 408,114 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Paychex by 2.6% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 14,066,067 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,046,050,000 after purchasing an additional 355,294 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Paychex by 2.3% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,033,312 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,604,906,000 after purchasing an additional 251,139 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Paychex by 2.8% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,183,871 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,481,053,000 after purchasing an additional 274,947 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Paychex by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,989,182 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $769,731,000 after buying an additional 181,628 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.