Q3 2026 EPS Estimates for Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Decreased by Zacks Research

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research cut their Q3 2026 EPS estimates for Paychex in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, April 16th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now forecasts that the business services provider will post earnings of $1.44 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $1.46. The consensus estimate for Paychex’s current full-year earnings is $4.71 per share.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Paychex from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 26th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, December 22nd. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

Paychex Trading Up 1.5 %

PAYX opened at $119.52 on Thursday. Paychex has a twelve month low of $104.09 and a twelve month high of $129.70. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $122.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $120.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.93.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.01. Paychex had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 46.14%. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.29 earnings per share. Paychex’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year.

Paychex announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Friday, January 19th that permits the company to buyback $400.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the business services provider to reacquire up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.53, for a total value of $1,865,924.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 82,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,966,625.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 11.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Paychex

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ethos Financial Group LLC increased its position in Paychex by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Ethos Financial Group LLC now owns 1,952 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $232,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in Paychex by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 15,425 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,779,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Griffin Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Paychex by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,225 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,171,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the period. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. increased its position in Paychex by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Roman Butler Fullerton & Co. now owns 4,003 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $472,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Finally, Penserra Capital Management LLC increased its position in Paychex by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 1,535 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Company Profile

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.