Wells Fargo & Company Initiates Coverage on Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP)

Key Points

• Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Automatic Data Processing (ADP), setting an "underweight" rating with a price target of $288.00, indicating a potential upside of 1.42% from its previous close.
• Analyst ratings on ADP vary, with three analysts giving a Buy rating, nine a Hold rating, and one a Sell rating, leading to an average price target of $314.09.
• Recent earnings reported by ADP showed a revenue of $5.13 billion and earnings per share (EPS) of $2.26, surpassing estimates and reflecting a 6.3% year-over-year revenue growth.

Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) in a report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage set an "underweight" rating and a $288.00 price target on the business services provider's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price objective points to a potential upside of 1.42% from the stock's previous close.

ADP has been the topic of several other research reports. Dbs Bank raised shares of Automatic Data Processing to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $315.00 to $290.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $305.00 to $318.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Automatic Data Processing to a "hold" rating and set a $340.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $314.09.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of ADP opened at $283.98 on Wednesday. The firm's 50 day moving average is $294.60 and its 200-day moving average is $302.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $115.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Automatic Data Processing has a 12-month low of $272.62 and a 12-month high of $329.93.

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

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 8,728 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $298.43, for a total value of $2,604,697.04. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 80,531 shares in the company, valued at $24,032,866.33. The trade was a 9.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP David Foskett sold 1,373 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $3,493,891.17. This trade represents a 10.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 52,516 shares of company stock valued at $15,632,410. Insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Automatic Data Processing

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ADP. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 4,653,304 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the second quarter valued at approximately $696,841,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the first quarter valued at approximately $661,771,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 128.1% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,585,704 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $484,480,000 after purchasing an additional 890,440 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 24.9% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 3,109,120 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $948,549,000 after purchasing an additional 619,829 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company's stock.

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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