Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
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Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Our common stock trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol “PAYX.” Dividends have historically been paid on our common stock in August, November, February, and May. The level and continuation of future dividends are dependent on our future earnings and cash flows, and are subject to the discretion of our Board of Directors (the “Board.”)
As of June 30, 2015, there were 13,351 holders of record of our common stock, which includes registered holders and participants in the Paychex, Inc. Dividend Reinvestment and Stock Purchase Plan. There were also 6,948 participants in the Paychex, Inc. Employee Stock Purchase Plan and 5,043 participants in the Paychex, Inc. Employee Stock Ownership Plan.
The high and low sale prices for our common stock as reported on the NASDAQ Global Select Market and dividends for fiscal 2015 and the fiscal year ended May 31, 2014 (“fiscal 2014”) are as follows:
| Fiscal 2015 | Fiscal 2014 | |||||||||||
| Sales prices | Cash dividends declared per share | Sales prices | Cash dividends declared per share | |||||||||
| High | Low | High | Low | |||||||||
| First quarter | $42.66 | $40.10 | $0.38 | $40.84 | $35.75 | $0.35 | ||||||
| Second quarter | $48.20 | $41.59 | $0.38 | $44.01 | $36.80 | $0.35 | ||||||
| Third quarter | $50.19 | $44.52 | $0.38 | $45.95 | $39.86 | $0.35 | ||||||
| Fourth quarter | $51.72 | $48.00 | $0.38 | $43.56 | $39.80 | $0.35 |
The closing price of our common stock as of May 29, 2015, as reported on the NASDAQ Global Select Market, was $49.41 per share.
In May 2014, the Board approved a program to repurchase up to $350 million of its common stock with authorization expiring on May 31, 2017. Shares of stock repurchased during the three months ended May 31, 2015 were purchased pursuant to the program and were retired.
The following table provides information relating to our repurchase of common stock during the three months ended May 31, 2015:
| Period | Total number of shares purchased | Average price paid per share | Approximate dollar value of shares that may yet be purchased under the program | ||||||||
| March 1, 2015 - March 31, 2015 | — | $ | — | $ | 279,566,285 | ||||||
| April 1, 2015 - April 30, 2015 | 1,718,724 | $ | 49.18 | $ | 195,038,017 | ||||||
| May 1, 2015 - May 31, 2015 | 560,458 | $ | 48.95 | $ | 167,604,108 | ||||||
| Total for the period | 2,279,182 | $ | 49.12 | $ | 167,604,108 |
The following graph shows a five-year comparison of the total cumulative returns of investing $100 on May 31, 2010, in Paychex common stock, the S&P 500 Index, and a Peer Group Index. All comparisons of stock price performance shown assume reinvestment of dividends. We are a participant in the S&P 500 Index, a market group of companies with a larger than average market capitalization. Our Peer Group is a group of companies with comparable revenue and net income, who are in a comparable industry, or who are direct competitors of Paychex (as detailed on the following page).

| May 31, | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | ||||||
| Paychex | $100.00 | $118.03 | $114.27 | $147.67 | $168.69 | $209.61 | ||||||
| S&P 500 | $100.00 | $125.95 | $125.43 | $159.64 | $192.28 | $214.98 | ||||||
| Peer Group | $100.00 | $135.03 | $127.75 | $169.40 | $210.42 | $271.24 |
There can be no assurance that our stock performance will continue into the future with the same or similar trends depicted in the graph above. We will neither make nor endorse any predictions as to future stock performance.
Our Peer Group is comprised of the following companies:
| Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (direct competitor) | Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. | |
| Fiserv, Inc. | Robert Half International Inc. | |
| The Western Union Company | Intuit Inc. | |
| Total Systems Services, Inc. | Iron Mountain Incorporated | |
| Global Payments Inc. | Moody’s Corporation | |
| The Brink’s Company | H&R Block, Inc. | |
| DST System, Inc. | TD AMERITRADE Holding Corporation | |
| The Dun & Bradstreet Corporation |
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