Barclays PLC Sells 346,449 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. $ADP

Barclays PLC lowered its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,375,193 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 346,449 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.59% of Automatic Data Processing worth $697,119,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ADP. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 92.1% during the 4th 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 grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 22.8% during the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 3,664 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,073,000 after purchasing an additional 681 shares in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 21.8% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 1,259 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $388,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 6.0% in the second quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 4,931 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,521,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares during the period. Finally, Trillium Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 26.1% in the second quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 1,194 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $368,000 after buying an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $280.00 to $270.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $311.00 to $274.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company 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. Jefferies Financial Group reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $230.00 price target (down from $245.00) on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $272.00 to $262.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $290.00.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP opened at $222.70 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The company has a market cap of $89.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.41 and a beta of 0.86. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $203.26 and a 12 month high of $329.93. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $239.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $263.98.

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

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is presently 65.38%.

Automatic Data Processing declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, January 14th that permits the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the business services provider to buy up to 5.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $234.18, for a total value of $234,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 15,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,585,295.80. This represents a 6.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP David Kwon sold 900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president owned 11,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,118,180. This trade represents a 6.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 3,515 shares of company stock valued at $887,074 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

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.