Paychex management check
PAYX · Industrials · Human Resource & Employment Services · CEO John B Gibson
Filings as of
5 good · 1 to watch · 1 flagged, across the seven questions below.
- Good
Have owners done well?
Beat its chosen peers$100 invested at the start of fiscal 2022 grew to $111, against $92 for the peer group the company picked itself.
- Good
Does pay follow performance?
Pay rose and fell with returnsOver 5 years, the CEO's pay actually paid (equity valued at the share price) had a correlation of 0.52 with shareholder return. 1 means pay moved in step; below 0, the opposite way.
- Good
What does the CEO cost owners?
0.6% of net income$10.3m of reported pay in fiscal 2026, against $1.8bn of net income.
- Flag
Do they own the stock?
CEO stake ≈ 0.9 years of payThe CEO holds 80,957 shares, directly or through trusts (unvested awards not counted): about 0.9 years of pay. 6 insiders sold $4.6m in the last six months and none bought.
- Good
Are owners being diluted?
Share count shrinkingDiluted shares changed -0.3% a year over the last three fiscal years. Stock-based pay was 1.5% of revenue in the latest year.
- Watch
Is leadership stable?
2 CEOs in the pay tableCEOs in the pay table: John B. Gibson, Martin Mucci. 6 filings under 8-K item 5.02 (officers or directors leaving or joining, or new pay arrangements) in the last 3 years.
- Good
Are the books clean?
No red flags on fileNo restatements, auditor changes or late filings since 2021.
Against the S&P 500
Each check's score (0–100) and how it compares: the share of ranked S&P 500 companies it matches or beats, and the median in Industrials.
| Check | Score | At or above | Sector median |
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner returns | 77 | 55 | |
| Pay for performance | 76 | 86 | |
| CEO cost | 69 | 48 | |
| Skin in the game | 12 | 55 | |
| Dilution | 54 | 62 | |
| Stable leadership | 55 | 75 | |
| Clean books | 100 | 100 |
Closest peers
Others in Human Resource & Employment Services, by management score. Paychex is 48th of 81 in its sector.
- 262RSGRepublic Services64
- 271PAYXPaychex63
- 274AOSA. O. Smith63
- 280FDXFedEx63
- 283ROKRockwell Automation62
- 299ADPAutomatic Data Processing61
Pay versus performance
From the proxy statement filed September 4, 2026. "Actually paid" values stock awards at the share price, so it rises and falls with the stock.
| Fiscal year | CEO | CEO pay | Actually paid | Other executives (avg) | $100 became | Peers | Net income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | — | $10.3m | $0 | $2.9m | $111 | $92 | $1.8bn |
| 2025 | — | $8.8m | $16.4m | $2.9m | $174 | $147 | $1.7bn |
| 2024 | — | $7.5m | $8.5m | $2.5m | $129 | $121 | $2k |
| 2023 | John B. Gibson, Martin Mucci | $14.4m | $5.7m | $2.7m | $109 | $96 | $1.6bn |
| 2022 | John B. Gibson | $11.0m | $23.3m | $3.3m | $125 | $93 | $1.4bn |
The board says pay is tied most to Operating income, net of certain items. Its other key measures: Annualized new business revenue, Relative total shareholder return, Service revenue.
Insiders and the CEO's stake
John B Gibson (President and CEO) held 80,957 shares directly after their latest Form 4 on Oct 19, 2026, roughly $9.0m at that filing's price.
6 insiders sold $4.6m in the last six months and none bought.
- SoldMartin MucciDirector$2.7mJul 14, 2026
- SoldJoseph M VelliDirector$844kOct 14, 2026
- SoldJoseph M TucciDirector$384kJun 26, 2026
- SoldChristopher C SimmonsVP, Controller & Treasurer$303kJul 17, 2026
Leadership and governance on file
- Jul 21, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jan 20, 2026Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jul 14, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- May 16, 2025Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jun 17, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- May 17, 2024Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Sep 8, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Sep 5, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
- May 15, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Jan 24, 2023Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Oct 14, 2022Leadership change8-K 5.02
- Aug 24, 2022Leadership change8-K 5.02
Latest shareholder vote results: Oct 16, 2026, including the say-on-pay vote.
Where the money went
Over 2021–2025: $7.6bn returned to owners in buybacks and dividends, 119% of net income, and $384.4m of pay in stock.
| Fiscal year | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $4.6bn | $4.9bn | $5.1bn | $5.4bn | $6.3bn |
| Net income | $1.4bn | $1.6bn | $2k | $1.7bn | $1.8bn |
| Stock-based pay | $52.8m | $62.6m | $61.1m | $111.8m | $96.1m |
| Buybacks | $145.2m | $0 | $169.2m | $104.5m | $611.0m |
| Dividends | $999.6m | $1.2bn | $1.3bn | $1.4bn | $1.6bn |
| Diluted shares | 363m | 362m | 362m | 362m | 360m |
Educational only, not investment advice. Figures are as filed with the SEC: pay from the proxy's pay-versus-performance table, capital allocation from 10-K XBRL data, insider trades from Form 4s over the last six months, events from the last 5 years of filings. The peer group is the one the company chose. See the method.