Sather Adds Nearly 18,000 Paycom Shares Amid Growth Deceleration

Sather Financial Group made a notable move in its portfolio during the fourth quarter of 2025, acquiring approximately 18,000 shares of Paycom Software Inc. (NYSE:PAYC). This purchase signals confidence in the cloud-based HR software provider at a time when the stock faces significant headwinds in the broader market.

The 18K Share Acquisition Details

According to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing dated January 26, 2026, Sather increased its Paycom stake by 18,035 shares, representing an estimated $3.20 million investment based on the quarter’s average pricing. This move expanded the fund’s total position to 268,030 shares, though the overall portfolio value for Paycom declined by $9.32 million to $42.71 million—reflecting both the new investment and broader share price weakness during the period.

The transaction represented a relatively modest 0.17% shift in the fund’s reported 13F assets under management. Paycom now accounts for 2.3% of Sather’s $1.86 billion reportable U.S. equity portfolio, placing it outside the fund’s top five holdings, which remain dominated by technology and infrastructure positions.

Fund Holdings and Market Position

Sather’s largest positions as of the filing date centered on mega-cap technology and diversified infrastructure companies. Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) leads at $221.90 million (11.9% of AUM), followed by Berkshire Hathaway’s Class B shares (NYSE:BRK-B) at $192.74 million (10.4%), Arista Networks (NASDAQ:ANET) at $118.95 million (6.4%), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) at $110.52 million (5.9%), and Brookfield (TSX:BN) at $97.26 million (5.2%).

By contrast, Paycom represents a smaller but potentially strategic bet on the smaller-cap software segment. The stock has endured significant pressure, trading at $152.29 as of January 23, 2026—down 25.3% over the past year and underperforming the S&P 500 by 38.3 percentage points.

Paycom’s Growth Slowdown and Valuation Shift

The rationale behind Sather’s decision becomes clearer when examining Paycom’s operational trajectory. The company has experienced a dramatic deceleration in growth rates. Five years ago, Paycom delivered revenue growth exceeding 25% annually. While expansion hasn’t halted, the slowdown is striking: the first nine months of 2025 showed revenue growth of approximately 10%—a respectable figure that nonetheless represents a substantial gap from historical performance.

This deceleration has crushed the stock price. Paycom shares have fallen more than 60% over the five-year period, marking one of the steepest declines among software leaders. Yet this decline has fundamentally reshaped the valuation picture. The stock currently trades at a P/E ratio near 19, a sharp contrast to the pandemic era when the multiple regularly exceeded 150. The company generates $2.00 billion in trailing twelve-month revenue with net income of $453.20 million, supporting a market capitalization of $8.57 billion.

What Sather’s Move Signifies for Investors

By adding nearly 18,000 shares during this period of weakness, Sather appears to be betting on mean reversion—that Paycom’s valuation has become excessively punished relative to its business fundamentals and market opportunity. The fund may have timed the purchase imperfectly; even after adding approximately 7% more shares, the position’s value still declined by more than $9 million, indicating downward price pressure persisted through the quarter.

However, this dynamic also underscores the investment thesis. A major institutional investor increasing exposure to a business that provides cloud-based human capital management solutions—serving small to mid-sized companies across the United States—suggests conviction that the combination of lower valuations and continued software adoption could create returns over time. The fund’s willingness to deploy capital despite recent underperformance indicates Sather sees the depressed Paycom valuation as an opportunity rather than a warning sign. For investors monitoring institutional buying patterns, such moves often precede market reassessment of neglected but fundamentally sound businesses.