Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) Receives Buy (B) Rating from Weiss Ratings

Key Points

• Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) received a "buy" rating from Weiss Ratings, alongside mixed ratings from other firms including a recent "underweight" from Wells Fargo and upgraded ratings from Stifel Nicolaus and BMO Capital Markets.
• The company reported a 6.3% year-over-year revenue increase with earnings per share of $2.26 for the last quarter, surpassing expectations.
• Insiders have sold a significant amount of stock recently, totaling over $15 million in transactions during the last three months, raising questions about insider confidence.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy (b)" rating restated by equities researchers at Weiss Ratings in a report issued on Friday,Weiss Ratings reports.

A number of other research firms have also commented on ADP. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Wednesday. They set an "underweight" rating and a $288.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $305.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Automatic Data Processing to a "hold" rating and set a $340.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup started coverage on Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $303.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded Automatic Data Processing to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $313.17.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 0.1%

NASDAQ:ADP traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $281.84. The company had a trading volume of 480,745 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,741,747. Automatic Data Processing has a fifty-two week low of $272.62 and a fifty-two week high of $329.93. The business's fifty day moving average is $293.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $302.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $114.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.82.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $5.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.05 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 72.84% and a net margin of 19.84%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. Automatic Data Processing has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.811-11.011 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP David Foskett sold 1,373 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 11,781 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,493,891.17. The trade was a 10.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Don Mcguire sold 13,599 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.57, for a total value of $4,033,055.43. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 17,684 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,244,543.88. This represents a 43.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 52,516 shares of company stock worth $15,632,410 in the last three months. 0.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Automatic Data Processing

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ADP. AlphaCore Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 1st quarter valued at $688,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 29.6% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 565 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $173,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 130.2% during the 1st quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 4,416 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,349,000 after buying an additional 2,498 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co now owns 32,478 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $9,923,000 after buying an additional 1,375 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MGO One Seven LLC raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 18.3% during the 2nd quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 13,578 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,187,000 after buying an additional 2,105 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Automatic Data Processing

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.

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