Sentry Investment Management LLC Has $185,000 Position in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Sentry Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 14.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,321 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 215 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $185,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of PAYX. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Paychex by 42.8% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 32,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,337,000 after purchasing an additional 9,681 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Paychex by 36.7% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 13,210 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,773,000 after buying an additional 3,544 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Paychex by 5.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 86,565 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $11,616,000 after buying an additional 4,521 shares during the period. Inscription Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Paychex by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter. Inscription Capital LLC now owns 2,533 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $340,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Autumn Glory Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Paychex by 166.8% in the 3rd quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC now owns 5,429 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $729,000 after acquiring an additional 3,394 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.47% of the company’s stock.

Paychex Price Performance

PAYX stock opened at $151.00 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $144.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $140.18. Paychex, Inc. has a 1 year low of $114.72 and a 1 year high of $151.86. The stock has a market cap of $54.37 billion, a PE ratio of 31.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, December 19th. The business services provider reported $1.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.02. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The company had revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.08 earnings per share. Paychex’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.98 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 82.53%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PAYX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price objective on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.23.

Paychex Profile

Paychex, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated human capital management solutions (HCM) for payroll, benefits, human resources (HR), 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.