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, 2022, there were 9,119 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 3,503 participants in the Paychex, Inc. Qualified Employee Stock Purchase Plan and 4,182 participants in the Paychex, Inc. Employee Stock Ownership Plan.

In May 2019, our Board approved a program to repurchase up to $400.0 million of our common stock with authorization that expired in May 2022 after the Company had repurchased all authorized shares. In July 2021, our Board authorized an additional program allowing us to repurchase up to $400.0 million of our common stock which expires on January 31, 2024. All shares repurchased during fiscal 2022 were retired and were as follows:

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The following graph shows a five-year comparison of the total cumulative returns of investing $100 on May 31, 2017, in Paychex common stock, the S&P 500 Index, and two Peer Group Indexes. 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 below).

There can be no assurance that our stock performance will continue with the same or similar trends depicted in the graph above. We neither make nor endorse any predictions as to future stock performance.

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The Governance & Compensation Committee of our Board annually reviews and approves the selection of Peer Group companies, adjusting the group from year to year based upon our business and changes in the Peer Group companies’ business or the comparability of their metrics. The Peer Group may also be adjusted in the event of mergers, acquisitions, or other significant economic changes. The Peer Group was adjusted for fiscal 2022. IHS Market Ltd. and Sabre Corporation were removed and replaced with Gartner, Inc., a company that is aligned with the Paychex business. Both the old and new peer groups are presented for this year of transition.

Our new Peer Group for fiscal 2022 is comprised of the following companies:

(1)

On March 23, 2022, Alliance Data System Corporation rebranded its business to Bread Financial Solutions, Inc.