Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 215 Shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Sentry Investment Management LLC lowered its stake 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.

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

Paychex Price Performance

Paychex stock opened at $151.00 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $54.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.79, a PEG 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $114.72 and a 12 month high of $151.86. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $144.50 and its 200-day moving average is $140.18.

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

Paychex Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 27th. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.98 per share. This represents a $3.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio is 82.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Paychex from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $148.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Paychex from $133.00 to $139.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and eleven have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $132.23.

About Paychex

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.