William Blair Issues Negative Forecast for Paychex Earnings

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) – William Blair dropped their Q4 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Paychex in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, June 16th. William Blair analyst A. Nicholas now expects that the business services provider will post earnings per share of $1.20 for the quarter, down from their previous 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.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Citigroup boosted their target price on Paychex from $145.00 to $158.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Cfra Research upgraded Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Paychex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $142.55.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX stock opened at $152.52 on Wednesday. Paychex has a 52-week low of $115.40 and a 52-week high of $161.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The business has a fifty day moving average of $151.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $147.58. The stock has a market cap of $54.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.92.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new position in shares of Paychex during the 4th quarter valued at $2,419,000. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 26.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,710 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $801,000 after acquiring an additional 1,190 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 27.7% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 41,275 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,717,000 after acquiring an additional 8,958 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 12,293 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,724,000 after acquiring an additional 974 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Paychex by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 13,338 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,870,000 after acquiring an additional 459 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Paychex news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total value of $544,762.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 78,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,709,408.75. This trade represents a 4.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were paid a dividend of $1.08 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 12th. This is an increase from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.