Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) has a consensus analyst rating of "Hold" from 15 analysts, with an average 1-year price target of $249.
• Several firms recently cut their price targets on ADP, including Robert W. Baird, Cantor Fitzgerald, BMO Capital Markets, Argus, and Stifel Nicolaus, reflecting more cautious sentiment.
• ADP’s latest earnings beat expectations, reporting $3.37 EPS on $5.94 billion revenue, while the company also declared a quarterly dividend of $1.70 per share.

Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of "Hold" by the fifteen analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have assigned a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $249.00.

ADP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $300.00 to $270.00 in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $306.00 to $244.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $234.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Argus dropped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $300.00 to $240.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $240.00 in a report on Thursday, April 30th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Christopher D'ambrosio sold 543 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.45, for a total transaction of $113,188.35. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 8,912 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,857,706.40. This represents a 5.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ADP. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 6,493.0% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,468,180 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $892,120,000 after acquiring an additional 3,415,576 shares during the period. Cardano Risk Management B.V. grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 950.1% during the fourth quarter. Cardano Risk Management B.V. now owns 3,563,180 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $916,557,000 after acquiring an additional 3,223,855 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth $721,738,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 47.8% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,830,294 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,004,691,000 after acquiring an additional 2,208,927 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 133.3% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,687,793 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $434,151,000 after acquiring an additional 964,405 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:ADP opened at $217.65 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $87.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.30 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $207.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $231.24. Automatic Data Processing has a 12-month low of $188.16 and a 12-month high of $329.93.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $3.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.30 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $5.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.85 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 68.82% and a net margin of 20.12%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.06 earnings per share. Automatic Data Processing has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.010-11.110 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing will post 11.07 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th will be issued 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, June 12th. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio is currently 63.43%.

About Automatic Data Processing

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.