Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas Grows Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. $ADP

Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 13.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 150,262 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,916 shares during the quarter. Automatic Data Processing comprises approximately 1.6% of Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas’ holdings, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas’ holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $33,651,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 92.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 10,026 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,935,000 after acquiring an additional 4,808 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its position in 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 worth $1,073,000 after purchasing an additional 681 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. boosted its position in 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 worth $388,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 2nd quarter valued at $108,000. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 17.5% in the 2nd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,477 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,641,000 after purchasing an additional 815 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $248.00 to $283.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $248.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $240.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $216.00 to $223.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $273.50.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.3%

Automatic Data Processing stock traded up $0.93 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $268.26. 2,165,933 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,973,697. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $188.16 and a 1 year high of $296.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $106.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $265.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $231.87.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $2.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.59 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 20.11% and a return on equity of 71.34%. The company had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.26 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Automatic Data Processing has set its FY 2027 guidance at 12.120-12.340 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 12.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a dividend of $1.70 per share. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Automatic Data Processing news, CEO Maria Black sold 29,810 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total value of $8,373,927.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 80,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,648,087.84. This represents a 26.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Joseph Desilva sold 631 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.87, for a total value of $178,490.97. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 18,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,324,744.88. This trade represents a 3.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 33,773 shares of company stock valued at $9,450,629 over the last 90 days. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Automatic Data Processing

Automatic Data Processing, Inc (NASDAQ: ADP) is a provider of human capital management (HCM) solutions and business outsourcing services. The company helps organizations manage payroll, employment taxes, human resources administration, employee benefits, workforce management, talent management, and compliance.

ADP offers cloud-based products for businesses of different sizes, including payroll and HR platforms, time and attendance tools, recruiting and talent solutions, benefits administration, and data and analytics services.