Paychex (PAYX) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ: PAYX) is a leading provider of integrated human capital management solutions primarily for small- to medium-sized businesses. Established in 1971 by entrepreneur B. Thomas Golisano and headquartered in Rochester, New York, the company offers an extensive suite of services including payroll processing, tax filing, retirement services, human resources outsourcing, and benefits administration. These offerings are delivered through both cloud-based software platforms and dedicated support teams, allowing clients to streamline operations and comply with regulatory requirements.

In addition to core payroll services, Paychex provides advanced time and attendance tracking, employee onboarding, and talent management tools. Its comprehensive product line enables businesses to manage every stage of the employee lifecycle, from recruitment and hiring to training, performance evaluation, and separation. The Paychex Flex® platform serves as the company’s flagship technology solution, integrating customizable modules to meet the specific needs of diverse industries such as healthcare, finance, retail, and manufacturing.

Paychex primarily serves clients across the United States, with growing operations in select European markets. The company supports more than 700,000 clients nationwide and continues to expand its global footprint through strategic partnerships and targeted acquisitions. With an emphasis on innovation, Paychex regularly upgrades its digital architecture to enhance data security, improve workflow automation, and deliver actionable workforce insights through analytics-driven dashboards.

Leadership at Paychex has been marked by a commitment to long-term growth and client satisfaction. Dion Weisler, appointed Chief Executive Officer in January 2022, oversees a senior management team focused on driving product development and expanding market reach. The board of directors, including founder B. Thomas Golisano in an advisory capacity, guides corporate governance and strategic direction. Together, the leadership team works to uphold Paychex’s reputation for reliability, compliance expertise, and customer-centric service delivery.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $142.93 to $144.17
• 50-Day Range: $137.94 to $159.78
• 52-Week Range: $121.33 to $161.24
• Volume: 1.15 million shs
• Average Volume: 1.97 million shs
• Market Capitalization: $51.66 billion
• P/E Ratio: 31.37
• Dividend Yield: 3.01%
• Price Target: $150.20
• Consensus Rating: Reduce

Paychex Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Paychex scored higher than 81% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 168th out of 665 stocks in the computer and technology sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 2.0 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Reduce

Consensus Rating

Paychex has received a consensus rating of Reduce. The company's average rating score is 1.91, and is based on no buy ratings, 10 hold ratings, and 1 sell rating.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Paychex has been the subject of 9 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 1.3 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 6.41%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Paychex are expected to grow by 6.41% in the coming year, from $4.99 to $5.31 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Paychex is 31.37, which means that it is trading at a more expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 26.50.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Paychex is 31.37, which means that it is trading at a less expensive P/E ratio than the Computer and Technology sector average P/E ratio of about 33.61.

Price to Earnings Growth Ratio

Paychex has a PEG Ratio of 3.26. PEG Ratios above 1 indicate that a company could be overvalued.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Paychex has a P/B Ratio of 12.51. P/B Ratios above 3 indicate that a company could be overvalued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 2.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Bearish

Percentage of Shares Shorted

3.99% of the float of Paychex has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Paychex has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 5.6.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Paychex has recently increased by 4.13%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing.

Dividend

• Score: 0.8 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Weak

Dividend Yield

Paychex pays a meaningful dividend of 3.04%, higher than the bottom 25% of all stocks that pay dividends.

Dividend Growth

Paychex has only been increasing its dividend for 3 years.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of Paychex is 94.53%. Payout ratios above 75% are not desirable because they may not be sustainable.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on EPS estimates, Paychex will have a dividend payout ratio of 81.36% in the coming year. This indicates that Paychex may not be able to sustain their current dividend.

Sustainability and ESG

• Score: 4.1 / 5
• Environmental Score: -0.14

Percentage of Shares Shorted

3.99% of the float of Paychex has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Paychex has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 5.6.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Paychex has recently increased by 4.13%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing.

News and Social Media

• Score: 3.4 / 5
• News Sentiment: 1.10

News Sentiment

Paychex has a news sentiment score of 1.10. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a higher news sentiment than the 0.83 average news sentiment score of Computer and Technology companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 33 news articles for Paychex this week, compared to 21 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

15 people have searched for PAYX on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is an increase of 114% compared to the previous 30 days.

MarketBeat Follows

Only 6 people have added Paychex to their MarketBeat watchlist in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of -14% compared to the previous 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 3.3 / 5
• Insider Trading: Selling Shares

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Paychex insiders have sold more of their company's stock than they have bought. Specifically, they have bought $0.00 in company stock and sold $15,913,400.00 in company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

11.40% of the stock of Paychex is held by insiders. A high percentage of insider ownership can be a sign of company health.

Percentage Held by Institutions

83.47% of the stock of Paychex is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

PAYX Stock Analysis - Frequently Asked Questions

How have PAYX shares performed this year?

Paychex's stock was trading at $140.22 on January 1st, 2025. Since then, PAYX stock has increased by 2.3% and is now trading at $143.4160.

How were Paychex's earnings last quarter?

Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) released its earnings results on Wednesday, June, 25th. The business services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.19. The business services provider had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.38 billion. Paychex had a net margin of 29.75% and a trailing twelve-month return on equity of 45.01%.
Read the conference call transcript.

Is Paychex buying back stock?

Paychex's board approved a share buyback program on Friday, January 19th 2024, which allows the company to buy back $400,000,000 in outstanding shares, according to EventVestor. This means that the company could reacquire up to 0.9% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Does Paychex have any subsidiaries?

Paychex subsidiaries include these companies: Flock, Oasis Outsourcing, Lessor Group, HR Outsourcing, Advance Partners, nettime Solutions, myStaffingPro by HR Services, and others.

Who are Paychex's major shareholders?

Paychex's top institutional shareholders include Confluence Investment Management LLC (0.29%), Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY (0.15%), Wedge Capital Management L L P NC (0.11%) and Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH (0.09%). Insiders that own company stock include Martin Mucci, Efrain Rivera, John B Gibson, Mark Anthony Bottini, Joseph M Velli, Joseph M Tucci, Robert L Schrader, Michael E Gioja, David J S Flaschen and Karen E Saunders-Mcclendon.
View institutional ownership trends.

How do I buy shares of Paychex?

Shares of PAYX stock can be purchased through any online brokerage account. Popular online brokerages with access to the U.S. stock market include Charles Schwab, E*TRADE, Fidelity, and Vanguard Brokerage Services.

What other stocks do shareholders of Paychex own?

Based on aggregate information from My MarketBeat watchlists, some other companies that Paychex investors own include Verizon Communications (VZ), American Water Works (AWK), NVIDIA (NVDA), Humana (HUM), Meta Platforms (META), Tesla (TSLA) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM).

Company Calendar

• Record date for 5/29 Dividend: 5/12/2025
• Ex-Dividend for 5/29 Dividend: 5/12/2025
• Dividend Payable: 5/29/2025
• Last Earnings: 6/25/2025
• Today: 7/18/2025
• Record date for 8/29 Dividend: 7/21/2025
• Ex-Dividend for 8/29 Dividend: 7/21/2025
• Dividend Payable: 8/29/2025
• Fiscal Year End: 5/31/2026

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NASDAQ
• Sector: Computer and Technology
• Industry: INTERNET SOFTWARE
• Sub-Industry: Data Processing & Outsourced Services
• Current Symbol: NASDAQ:PAYX
• CIK: 723531
• Web: www.paychex.com
• Phone: (585) 385-6666
• Fax: 302-655-5049
• Employees: 16,500
• Year Founded: 1971

Price Target and Rating

• Average Price Target for Paychex: $150.20
• High Price Target: $165.00
• Low Price Target: $131.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +4.9%
• Consensus Rating: Reduce
• Rating Score (0-4): 1.91
• Research Coverage: 11 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $4.57
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 31.33
• Forward P/E Ratio: 28.70
• P/E Growth: 3.26
• Net Income: $1.66 billion
• Net Margins: 29.75%
• Pretax Margin: 39.05%
• Return on Equity: 45.01%
• Return on Assets: 14.77%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 1.10
• Current Ratio: 1.28
• Quick Ratio: 1.39

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $5.57 billion
• Price / Sales: 9.26
• Cash Flow: $6.35 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 22.55
• Book Value: $11.46 per share
• Price / Book: 12.49

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 360,240,000
• Free Float: 319,176,000
• Market Cap: $51.58 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 0.88