Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Trims Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. $ADP

Key Points

• Bahl & Gaynor Inc. has reduced its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. by 5.0%, now holding 957,031 shares valued at approximately $292 million.
• Automatic Data Processing announced a quarterly dividend of $1.54 per share, representing an annual yield of 2.0%, with the dividend payout ratio at 61.72%.
• The company's stock has a 52-week high of $329.93 and a current market capitalization of $124.73 billion, with analyst ratings indicating a consensus of "Hold" and a target price of $317.00.

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 5.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 957,031 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 50,200 shares during the period. Automatic Data Processing accounts for 1.5% of Bahl & Gaynor Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned approximately 0.24% of Automatic Data Processing worth $292,402,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ADP. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 92.1% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter worth about $957,000. Burling Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $449,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 11,020 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,226,000 after purchasing an additional 194 shares during the period. Finally, Hancock Whitney Corp lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 9,739 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,851,000 after buying an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ADP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $305.00 to $318.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Dbs Bank upgraded Automatic Data Processing to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $323.00 to $315.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Finally, TD Securities upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $317.00.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of ADP traded up $1.05 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $304.14. The stock had a trading volume of 364,143 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,719,107. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $267.79 and a fifty-two week high of $329.93. 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 capitalization of $123.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.48, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $304.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $305.56.

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

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio is currently 61.72%.

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.