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Paychex (PAYX) Stock Forecast & Price Target

Paychex logo
$101.37 0.00 (0.00%)
Closing price 09/25/2026 04:00 PM Eastern
Extended Trading
$101.39 +0.02 (+0.02%)
As of 09/25/2026 07:57 PM Eastern
Extended trading is trading that happens on electronic markets outside of regular trading hours. This is a fair market value extended hours price provided by Massive. Learn more.

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

Consensus Rating

Sell
2
Hold
13
Buy
3

Based on 18 Wall Street analysts who have issued ratings for Paychex in the last 12 months, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold." Out of the 18 analysts, 2 have given a sell rating, 13 have given a hold rating, 2 have given a buy rating, and 1 has given a strong buy rating for PAYX.

Consensus Price Target

$127.59
25.86% Upside
According to the 18 analysts' twelve-month price targets for Paychex, the average price target is $127.59. The highest price target for PAYX is $225.00, while the lowest price target for PAYX is $96.00. The average price target represents a forecasted upside of 25.86% from the current price of $101.37.
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

TypeCurrent Forecast
9/28/25 to 9/28/26
1 Month Ago
8/29/25 to 8/29/26
3 Months Ago
6/30/25 to 6/30/26
1 Year Ago
9/28/24 to 9/28/25
Strong Buy
1 Strong Buy rating(s)
1 Strong Buy rating(s)
1 Strong Buy rating(s)
0 Strong Buy rating(s)
Buy
2 Buy rating(s)
3 Buy rating(s)
2 Buy rating(s)
0 Buy rating(s)
Hold
13 Hold rating(s)
10 Hold rating(s)
10 Hold rating(s)
11 Hold rating(s)
Sell
2 Sell rating(s)
4 Sell rating(s)
4 Sell rating(s)
2 Sell rating(s)
Consensus Price Target$127.59$121.94$105.80$145.91
Forecasted Upside25.86% Upside-4.01% Downside7.60% Upside13.80% Upside
Consensus RatingHoldHoldHoldReduce

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.
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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.
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Paychex Stock vs. The Competition

TypePaychexIndustrials CompaniesBroader Market
Consensus Rating Score
2.11
2.30
2.53
Consensus RatingHoldHoldModerate Buy
Predicted Upside27.37% Upside103.02% Upside19.20% Upside
News Sentiment Rating
Neutral News

See Recent PAYX News
Positive News
Positive News
DateBrokerageAnalystActionRatingPrice TargetReport Date
Upside/Downside
Details
9/28/2026
Cantor Fitzgerald logo
Cantor Fitzgerald
5 of 5 stars
Lower TargetUnderweight$112.00 ➝ $96.00-5.30%
9/28/2026
Robert W. Baird logo
Robert W. Baird
3 of 5 stars
Mark Marcon
Mark Marcon
Not Rated
Lower TargetNeutral$125.00 ➝ $110.00+8.51%
9/25/2026
TD Cowen logo
TD Cowen
3 of 5 stars
Jared Levine
Not Rated
Lower TargetHold$117.00 ➝ $105.00+3.58%
9/24/2026Lower TargetMarket Perform$118.00 ➝ $113.00+8.14%
9/24/2026Reiterated RatingSector Perform$130.00+25.35%
9/24/2026Lower TargetHold$120.00 ➝ $110.00+4.79%
9/24/2026Lower TargetHold$130.00 ➝ $112.00+6.70%
9/24/2026 Lower TargetEqual Weight$132.00 ➝ $113.00+7.65%
9/24/2026Lower TargetNeutral$125.00 ➝ $115.00+9.48%
9/24/2026UpgradeUnderweight ➝ Neutral$105.00 ➝ $115.00+10.06%
9/17/2026Reiterated RatingNeutral
9/16/2026UpgradeUnderperform ➝ Peer Perform
9/9/2026Boost TargetUnderweight$95.00 ➝ $111.00-5.07%
7/30/2026Boost TargetBuy$140.00 ➝ $150.00+22.82%
7/20/2026 UpgradeHold (C-) ➝ Hold (C)
7/16/2026 UpgradeMarket Perform ➝ Outperform$210.00+82.14%
7/15/2026 Lower Target$450.00 ➝ $225.00+95.15%
6/30/2026Boost TargetEqual Weight$107.00 ➝ $109.00+9.21%
3/27/2026 UpgradeStrong-Buy
6/24/2025Set TargetEqual Weight$155.00+2.91%
3/27/2025UpgradeHold

Analyst ratings data on MarketBeat is provided by Benzinga and other data providers. This page was last refreshed on Monday at 08:18 AM 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 Thursday, September 24, 2026. Please send any questions or comments about these Paychex pros and cons to contact@marketbeat.com.

Paychex
Bull Case

green Wall Street bull icon

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

  • Paychex, Inc. recently reported first-quarter fiscal 2027 adjusted earnings of $1.34 per share, which beat the consensus estimate of $1.32, while revenue rose 5.9% year over year to $1.63 billion, demonstrating strong operational performance and profitability with a net margin of 27.03%.
  • The company's PEO and Insurance Solutions segment showed robust growth of 12% to $367.6 million, prompting management to raise the fiscal 2027 growth outlook for this segment to 7%–8%, indicating a favorable shift in the business mix toward higher-value services.
  • Paychex, Inc. offers a high dividend yield of 4.16%, providing a significant income stream for investors, supported by a strong return on equity of 50.90% and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, which suggests a stable financial foundation for sustaining payouts.
  • The stock is currently trading at $101.59, which is significantly below the 52-week high of $130.32 and the consensus price target of $129.82, suggesting potential upside of nearly 28% as analysts like Royal Bank of Canada maintain a "Sector Perform" rating with a $130.00 target.
  • Paychex, Inc. is expanding its technology offerings by launching WISE Hire, an agentic AI recruiting product, which aims to accelerate hiring processes and expand its AI-enabled human resources solutions, positioning the company for future growth in workforce management.

Paychex
Bear Case

red Wall Street bear icon

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

  • Management Solutions, the company's largest segment, grew only 4% to approximately $1.2 billion, which is below the pace investors expected and below the segment's full-year 5%–6% outlook, raising concerns about the core business's growth momentum.
  • Several major analysts, including Stephens, Stifel, Jefferies, and UBS, have recently lowered their price targets on Paychex, Inc. following the latest earnings, with targets dropping to the $110–$115 range, reflecting a more cautious outlook on the stock's near-term performance.
  • The stock has experienced significant volatility, trading down 2.90 to $101.59 on September 24, 2026, and falling 8.8% ahead of the open on September 23, 2026, indicating heightened market sensitivity to the company's guidance and segment performance.
  • Insider selling activity has been notable, with CFO Robert Schrader selling 2,600 shares and Director Joseph Tucci selling 3,907 shares in recent months, which may signal a lack of confidence from company leadership in the current stock price.
  • Investors have raised concerns about weaker GAAP earnings and free cash flow relative to adjusted results, with GAAP EPS of $1.21 in the latest quarter compared to adjusted EPS of $1.34, potentially indicating that the company's core profitability is not as strong as the headline numbers suggest.

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 $127.59, with a high forecast of $225.00 and a low forecast of $96.00.

18 Wall Street equities research analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for Paychex in the last year. There are currently 2 sell ratings, 13 hold ratings, 2 buy ratings and 1 strong buy rating for the stock. The consensus among Wall Street equities research analysts is that investors should "hold" PAYX shares. A hold rating indicates that analysts believe investors should maintain any existing positions they have in PAYX, but not buy additional shares or sell existing shares.

According to analysts, Paychex's stock has a predicted upside of 25.86% based on their 12-month stock forecasts.

Over the previous 90 days, Paychex's stock had 4 upgrades by analysts.

Analysts like Paychex less than other "industrials" companies. The consensus rating score for Paychex is 2.11 while the average consensus rating score for "industrials" companies is 2.30. Learn more on how PAYX compares to other companies.


MarketBeat monitors more than a dozen sources for Paychex analyst ratings, with the most recent rating issued on 9/28/2026.
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