Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) Upgraded at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) to a strong sell rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $315.00 to $290.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $305.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $313.17.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $281.55 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $114.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $293.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $302.01. Automatic Data Processing has a 12-month low of $272.62 and a 12-month high of $329.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.84% and a return on equity of 72.84%. The business had revenue of $5.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Automatic Data Processing has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.811-11.011 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th were paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 12th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 61.72%.

Insider Activity

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP David Foskett sold 1,373 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.57, for a total transaction of $407,190.61. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 11,781 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,493,891.17. This represents a 10.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Don Mcguire sold 13,599 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.57, for a total value of $4,033,055.43. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 17,684 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,244,543.88. This represents a 43.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 52,516 shares of company stock worth $15,632,410 over the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ADP. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 92.1% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 10,026 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,935,000 after acquiring an additional 4,808 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 22.8% during the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 3,664 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,073,000 after acquiring an additional 681 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 13.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,495 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,901,000 after acquiring an additional 1,148 shares during the period. Moran Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 435.8% during the first quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,271 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,055,000 after buying an additional 10,794 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Equity Partners purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the first quarter worth about $544,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Automatic Data Processing

Automatic Data Processing, Inc provides cloud-based human capital management solutions worldwide. It operates in two segments, Employer Services and Professional Employer Organization (PEO). The Employer Services segment offers strategic, cloud-based platforms, and human resources (HR) outsourcing solutions.