American Century Companies Inc. Acquires 11,223 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. $ADP

American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 852,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,223 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.21% of Automatic Data Processing worth $250,313,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 0.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 41,689,633 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,235,907,000 after purchasing an additional 389,451 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,782,407 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,820,445,000 after buying an additional 187,415 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,388,935 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,511,698,000 after buying an additional 345,798 shares in the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 30,110.7% during the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,668,758 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,439,845,000 after buying an additional 4,653,304 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 13.5% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,576,681 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,411,449,000 after acquiring an additional 544,968 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP David Kwon sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.00, for a total transaction of $234,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 11,993 shares in the company, valued at $3,118,180. This represents a 6.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP David Foskett sold 266 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $237.00, for a total transaction of $63,042.00. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 10,954 shares in the company, valued at $2,596,098. The trade was a 2.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 3,515 shares of company stock valued at $887,074 over the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ADP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $230.00 target price (down from $245.00) on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $272.00 to $262.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $303.00 to $265.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $306.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $290.00.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $214.36 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $242.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $266.09. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $203.26 and a 12-month high of $329.93. The firm has a market cap of $86.31 billion, a PE ratio of 20.61 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The business services provider reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.57 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.96% and a return on equity of 68.44%. The company had revenue of $5.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.35 earnings per share. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. Automatic Data Processing has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.091-11.011 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, January 14th that authorizes the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the business services provider to repurchase up to 5.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.38%.

Automatic Data Processing Company Profile

Automatic Data Processing, Inc (ADP) is a global provider of cloud-based human capital management (HCM) and payroll solutions. Founded in 1949 and headquartered in Roseland, New Jersey, ADP began as a payroll processing company and has evolved into a diversified provider of workforce management, HR, benefits administration, tax and compliance services, and analytics for employers of all sizes.

ADP’s product portfolio includes payroll processing and tax filing, time and attendance systems, benefits administration, talent management, and HR outsourcing.