Zacks Research Equities Analysts Boost Earnings Estimates for Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research raised their Q3 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Paychex in a report released on Wednesday, March 27th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now expects that the business services provider will post earnings of $1.46 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $1.45. The consensus estimate for Paychex’s current full-year earnings is $4.72 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Paychex’s FY2026 earnings at $5.38 EPS.

PAYX has been the topic of several other research reports. Citigroup decreased their price target on Paychex from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 26th. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Paychex from $134.00 to $126.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Paychex from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $122.77.

Paychex Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PAYX opened at $121.53 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $121.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $119.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a current ratio of 1.23 and a quick ratio of 1.23. Paychex has a 12 month low of $104.09 and a 12 month high of $129.70.

Paychex declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Friday, January 19th that authorizes the company to buyback $400.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the business services provider to reacquire up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $0.89 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 12th. This represents a $3.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. Paychex’s payout ratio is 79.11%.

Insider Transactions at Paychex

In other news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.53, for a total transaction of $1,865,924.93. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 82,690 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,966,625.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Paychex

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Paychex by 102,768.9% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,537,548 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $524,359,000 after buying an additional 4,533,137 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in Paychex by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 18,504,389 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,204,115,000 after buying an additional 1,523,520 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in Paychex by 337.3% in the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 1,544,806 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $178,162,000 after buying an additional 1,191,539 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Paychex by 229.8% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,630,944 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $188,655,000 after buying an additional 1,136,456 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors purchased a new position in Paychex in the 4th quarter valued at about $115,494,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Paychex

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, 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.