Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) Stock Position Decreased by Sentry Investment Management LLC

Sentry Investment Management LLC cut its position in shares of Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) by 23.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 304 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Paychex were worth $143,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 31,521,025 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,419,878,000 after purchasing an additional 174,817 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 26,905,031 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,772,544,000 after purchasing an additional 166,155 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,044,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,408,458,000 after purchasing an additional 519,761 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,541,034 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,339,463,000 after purchasing an additional 126,962 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Paychex by 16.9% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,807,554 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $674,115,000 after purchasing an additional 694,651 shares in the last quarter. 83.47% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Paychex

In other news, Director Joseph M. Velli sold 3,650 shares of Paychex stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.25, for a total transaction of $544,762.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 78,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,709,408.75. This trade represents a 4.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 11.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on PAYX. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Paychex from $137.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays raised their price objective on Paychex from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Paychex from $141.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Cfra Research raised Paychex to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Paychex in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Paychex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $142.55.

Paychex Stock Performance

PAYX opened at $158.25 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.91. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $149.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $146.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20. Paychex, Inc. has a 12-month low of $115.40 and a 12-month high of $159.75.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 26th. The business services provider reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.51 billion. Paychex had a return on equity of 45.28% and a net margin of 32.02%. The company’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.38 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Paychex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th were issued a $1.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $4.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.73%. This is a positive change from Paychex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. Paychex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.00%.

Paychex Company 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.