Paychex (PAYX) Stock Forecast & Price Target

$93.93 -0.33 (-0.35%)

Closing price 05/8/2026 04:00 PM Eastern

Extended Trading

$92.97 -0.96 (-1.03%)

As of 05/8/2026 07:58 PM Eastern

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Paychex - Analysts' Recommendations and Stock Price Forecast (2026)

Consensus Rating

Reduce

Based on 18 Analyst Ratings

Sell
4

Hold
12

Buy
2

Based on 18 Wall Street analysts who have issued ratings for Paychex in the last 12 months, the stock has a consensus rating of "Reduce." Out of the 18 analysts, 4 have given a sell rating, 12 have given a hold rating, 1 has given a buy rating, and 1 has given a strong buy rating for PAYX.

Consensus Price Target

$106.38
13.25% Upside

According to the 18 analysts' twelve-month price targets for Paychex, the average price target is $106.38. The highest price target for PAYX is $155.00, while the lowest price target for PAYX is $52.00. The average price target represents a forecasted upside of 13.25% from the current price of $93.93.

MarketBeat calculates consensus analyst ratings for stocks using the most recent rating from each Wall Street analyst that has rated a stock within the last twelve months. Each analyst's rating is normalized to a standardized rating score of 1 (sell), 2 (hold), 3 (buy) or 4 (strong buy). Analyst consensus ratings scores are calculated using the mean average of the number of normalized sell, hold, buy and strong buy ratings from Wall Street analysts. Each stock's consensus analyst rating is derived from its calculated consensus ratings score (0 to .5 = Strong Sell, .5 to 1 = Sell, 1 to 1.5 = Reduce, 1.5 to 2.5 = Hold, 2.5 to 3.0 = Moderate Buy, 3.0 to 3.5 = Buy, >3.5 = Strong Buy). MarketBeat's consensus price targets are a mean average of the most recent available price targets set by each analyst that has set a price target for the stock in the last twelve months. MarketBeat's consensus ratings and consensus price targets may differ from those calculated by other firms due to differences in methodology and available data.

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PAYX Analyst Ratings Over Time

Type	Current Forecast 5/9/25 to 5/9/26	1 Month Ago 4/9/25 to 4/9/26	3 Months Ago 2/8/25 to 2/8/26	1 Year Ago 5/9/24 to 5/9/25
Strong Buy	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)
Buy	1 Buy rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Buy rating(s)
Hold	12 Hold rating(s)	12 Hold rating(s)	13 Hold rating(s)	10 Hold rating(s)
Sell	4 Sell rating(s)	4 Sell rating(s)	4 Sell rating(s)	2 Sell rating(s)
Consensus Price Target	$106.38	$108.75	$123.94	$141.00
Forecasted Upside	13.25% Upside	23.78% Upside	25.79% Upside	-7.02% Downside
Consensus Rating	Reduce	Reduce	Reduce	Reduce

PAYX Analyst Recommendations By Month

The chart below shows how a company's ratings by analysts have changed over time. Each bar represents the previous year of ratings for that month. Within each bar, the sell ratings are shown in red, the hold ratings are shown in yellow, the buy ratings are shown in green, and the strong buy ratings are shown in dark green.

PAYX Price Targets by Month

The chart below shows how a company's share price and consensus price target have changed over time. The dark blue line represents the company's actual price. The lighter blue line represents the stock's consensus price target. The even lighter blue range in the background of the two lines represents the low price target and the high price target for each stock.

Paychex Stock vs. The Competition

Type	Paychex	Computer and Technology Companies	S&P 500
Consensus Rating Score	1.94	2.30	2.52
Consensus Rating	Reduce	Hold	Moderate Buy
Predicted Upside	13.25% Upside	176.22% Upside	15.49% Upside
News Sentiment Rating	Positive News See Recent PAYX News	Positive News	Positive News

Recent Analyst Forecasts and Stock Ratings

Rating

Upside/Downside

Action

Time Frame

Start Date

End Date

Show

Export

Date	Brokerage	Analyst	Action	Rating	Price Target	Report Date Upside/Downside
4/28/2026	Morgan Stanley 3 of 5 stars		Lower Target	Equal Weight	$123.00 ➝ $107.00	+17.60%
4/24/2026	Weiss Ratings Not Rated		Reiterated Rating	Hold (C-)
4/13/2026	UBS Group 4 of 5 stars	Kevin McVeigh 1 of 5 stars	Lower Target	Neutral	$98.00 ➝ $94.00	+5.15%
4/7/2026	TD Cowen Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Bryan C. Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Lower Target	Hold	$95.00 ➝ $94.00	+2.61%
3/27/2026	Argus Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Upgrade	Strong-Buy
3/26/2026	Stephens Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Lower Target	Equal Weight	$125.00 ➝ $105.00	+15.52%
3/26/2026	Jefferies Financial Group Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Lower Target	Hold	$110.00 ➝ $105.00	+15.52%
3/26/2026	BMO Capital Markets Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Daniel Jester Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Boost Target	Outperform	$52.00	-42.79%
3/26/2026	JPMorgan Chase & Co. Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Tien-Tsin Huang Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Lower Target	Underweight	$125.00 ➝ $100.00	+7.38%
3/26/2026	Citigroup Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Bryan Keane Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Lower Target	Neutral	$120.00 ➝ $99.00	+5.40%
Get the Latest News and Ratings for PAYX and Related Stocks Enter your email address below to receive the latest news and analysts' ratings for Paychex and its competitors with MarketBeat's FREE daily newsletter.
3/26/2026	Wells Fargo & Company Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Jason Kupferberg Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Lower Target	Underweight	$116.00 ➝ $95.00	-0.09%
3/26/2026	Robert W. Baird Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Mark Marcon Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Lower Target	Neutral	$148.00 ➝ $125.00	+33.89%
3/19/2026	Royal Bank Of Canada Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Ashish Sabadra Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Lower Target	Sector Perform	$125.00 ➝ $102.00	+11.14%
3/19/2026	Guggenheim Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Jacob Smith Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Initiated Coverage	Neutral
1/27/2026	Cantor Fitzgerald Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Ramsey El-Assal Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Upgrade	Strong Sell
12/17/2025	Stifel Nicolaus Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	David Grossman Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Lower Target	Hold	$137.00 ➝ $126.00	+9.36%
12/10/2025	Wolfe Research Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Lower Target	Underperform	$130.00 ➝ $115.00	+2.00%
6/24/2025	Barclays Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	Ramsey El-Assal Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Set Target	Equal Weight	$155.00	+2.91%
3/27/2025	Cfra Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating	S. Gheewala Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the analyst's recommendation accuracy rating	Upgrade	Hold
6/27/2024	Bank of America Subscribe to MarketBeat All Access for the firm's recommendation accuracy rating		Boost Target	Underperform	$111.00 ➝ $113.00	-3.74%

Analyst ratings data on MarketBeat is provided by Benzinga and other data providers. This page was last refreshed on Saturday at 07:03 PM ET.

Should I Buy Paychex Stock? PAYX Pros and Cons Explained

These pros and cons were generated based on recent news and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate insights. They were last updated on Tuesday, May 5, 2026. Please send any questions or comments about these Paychex pros and cons to contact@marketbeat.com.

Paychex
Bull Case

Here are some ways that investors could benefit from investing in Paychex, Inc.:

Paychex, Inc. recently reported strong quarterly earnings, with earnings per share (EPS) of $1.71, surpassing analysts' expectations, indicating robust financial performance.
The company has a high return on equity of 48.52%, suggesting effective management and profitability relative to shareholder equity.
Paychex, Inc. has initiated a significant share buyback program, allowing for the repurchase of $1.00 billion in shares, which often signals that the company believes its stock is undervalued.
The current stock price is around $106.38, which reflects a consensus price target that analysts have set, indicating potential for growth based on market expectations.
With a revenue increase of nearly 20% compared to the same quarter last year, Paychex, Inc. demonstrates strong growth potential, appealing to investors looking for expanding companies.

Paychex
Bear Case

Investors should be bearish about investing in Paychex, Inc. for these reasons:

Several analysts have recently downgraded their price targets for Paychex, Inc., indicating a lack of confidence in short-term stock performance.
The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, which suggests a higher level of debt compared to equity, potentially increasing financial risk.
Despite strong earnings, the stock has received mixed ratings from analysts, with a significant number assigning hold or sell ratings, which may indicate uncertainty in future performance.
The P/E ratio of 20.49 may suggest that the stock is relatively expensive compared to its earnings, which could deter value-focused investors.
Market volatility, as indicated by a beta of 0.84, suggests that the stock may not be as stable as some investors prefer, potentially leading to greater risk in turbulent market conditions.

PAYX Forecast - Frequently Asked Questions

According to the research reports of 18 Wall Street equities research analysts, the average twelve-month stock price forecast for Paychex is $106.38, with a high forecast of $155.00 and a low forecast of $52.00.

18 Wall Street analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for Paychex in the last twelve months. There are currently 4 sell ratings, 12 hold ratings, 1 buy rating and 1 strong buy rating for the stock. The consensus among Wall Street analysts is that investors should "reduce" PAYX shares.

According to analysts, Paychex's stock has a predicted upside of 13.25% based on their 12-month stock forecasts.

Over the previous 90 days, Paychex's stock had 1 upgrade by analysts.

Paychex has been rated by research analysts at Argus, BMO Capital Markets, Citigroup, Guggenheim, Jefferies Financial Group, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley, Robert W. Baird, Royal Bank Of Canada, Stephens, TD Cowen, UBS Group, Weiss Ratings, and Wells Fargo & Company in the past 90 days.

Analysts like Paychex less than other "computer and technology" companies. The consensus rating for Paychex is Reduce while the average consensus rating for "computer and technology" companies is Hold. Learn more on how PAYX compares to other companies.

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This page (NASDAQ:PAYX) was last updated on 5/9/2026 by MarketBeat.com Staff.

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Paychex (PAYX) Stock Forecast & Price Target

Paychex - Analysts' Recommendations and Stock Price Forecast (2026)

Consensus Rating

Consensus Price Target

PAYX Analyst Ratings Over Time

PAYX Analyst Recommendations By Month

PAYX Price Targets by Month

Paychex Stock vs. The Competition

Recent Analyst Forecasts and Stock Ratings

Should I Buy Paychex Stock? PAYX Pros and Cons Explained

Paychex
Bull Case

Paychex
Bear Case

PAYX Forecast - Frequently Asked Questions

Stock Forecasts and Research Tools

Today's Analyst Ratings

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Brokerages With Paychex Recommendations

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Paychex (PAYX) Stock Forecast & Price Target

Paychex - Analysts' Recommendations and Stock Price Forecast (2026)

Consensus Rating

Consensus Price Target

PAYX Analyst Ratings Over Time

PAYX Analyst Recommendations By Month

PAYX Price Targets by Month

Paychex Stock vs. The Competition

Recent Analyst Forecasts and Stock Ratings

Should I Buy Paychex Stock? PAYX Pros and Cons Explained

Paychex Bull Case

Paychex Bear Case

PAYX Forecast - Frequently Asked Questions

What is Paychex's forecast for 2026?

Should I buy or sell Paychex stock right now?

Does Paychex's stock price have much upside?

Has Paychex been upgraded by Wall Street analysts recently?

What analysts cover Paychex?

Do Wall Street analysts like Paychex more than its competitors?

Stock Forecasts and Research Tools

Today's Analyst Ratings

Top-Rated Stocks

More Ratings Tools

Brokerages With Paychex Recommendations

MarketBeat All Access Features

Best-in-Class Portfolio Monitoring

Stock Ideas and Recommendations

Advanced Stock Screeners and Research Tools

Paychex
Bull Case

Paychex
Bear Case