Norges Bank Makes New Investment in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. $ADP

Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 2,259,535 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $696,841,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 30,110.7% in the second 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 acquiring an additional 4,653,304 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 1st quarter valued at $661,771,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 15.7% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,431,478 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,348,805,000 after purchasing an additional 601,400 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 26.6% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,812,637 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $867,445,000 after buying an additional 591,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 22.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 3,059,100 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $934,647,000 after buying an additional 564,187 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $255.50 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $272.19 and a 200 day moving average of $295.08. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $247.18 and a 52 week high of $329.93. The company has a market cap of $103.34 billion, a PE ratio of 25.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $2.49 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.44 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.79% and a return on equity of 70.63%. The business had revenue of $5.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.14 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.33 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Automatic Data Processing has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.811-11.011 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. This is a positive change from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.54. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Don Mcguire sold 13,599 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.57, for a total transaction of $4,033,055.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 17,684 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,244,543.88. This trade represents a 43.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP David Foskett sold 1,373 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 11,781 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,493,891.17. This trade represents a 10.44% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 52,516 shares of company stock valued at $15,632,410. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ADP. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group lowered 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 report on Wednesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $288.00 to $272.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $303.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Dbs Bank raised shares of Automatic Data Processing to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $312.67.

Automatic Data Processing Company Profile

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.