Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday. The business services provider reported $1.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.01, Briefing.com reports. The business had revenue of $1.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.46 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 46.14% and a net margin of 31.86%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.29 EPS. Paychex updated its FY 2024 guidance to 4.700-4.740 EPS.

Paychex Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of PAYX stock traded down $0.27 during trading on Thursday, reaching $119.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,028,516 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,764,469. The company has a market capitalization of $43.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.30 and a beta of 0.93. Paychex has a 1-year low of $104.09 and a 1-year high of $129.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $121.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $119.62.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 13th were issued a dividend of $0.89 per share. This represents a $3.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 12th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 77.56%.

Paychex declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Friday, January 19th that allows the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to buy up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Paychex 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 value of $1,865,924.93. Following the sale, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 11.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Paychex

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PAYX. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Paychex by 102,768.9% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 4,533,137 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Paychex by 50.2% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 2,011,719 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $239,617,000 after acquiring an additional 672,361 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of Paychex by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,176,154 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $378,312,000 after acquiring an additional 558,949 shares in the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its holdings in Paychex by 31.1% in the first quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 2,130,610 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $244,147,000 after purchasing an additional 505,812 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Paychex by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,418,038 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,623,093,000 after purchasing an additional 487,031 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PAYX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Paychex from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 26th. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Paychex from $124.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Finally, Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $123.00.

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.