Sanders Morris Harris LLC Acquires New Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. $ADP

Sanders Morris Harris LLC acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 2,287 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $590,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ADP. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the second quarter worth $8,097,229,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the second quarter valued at $1,231,175,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the second quarter valued at $994,937,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the second quarter valued at $725,513,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the second quarter valued at $562,425,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

NASDAQ:ADP opened at $280.32 on Thursday. 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 $111.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $272.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $241.28. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $188.16 and a 1-year high of $288.00.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $2.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $5.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.26 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Automatic Data Processing has set its FY 2027 guidance at 12.120-12.340 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 12.27 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th were issued a $1.70 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 11th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is presently 62.16%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Maria Black sold 29,810 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.91, for a total transaction of $8,373,927.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 80,624 shares in the company, valued at $22,648,087.84. This trade represents a 26.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $282.87, for a total value of $178,490.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 18,824 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,324,744.88. This represents a 3.24% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 33,773 shares of company stock worth $9,450,629. 0.15% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ADP shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings raised Automatic Data Processing from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $240.00 to $286.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $248.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $248.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $273.50.

Automatic Data Processing Profile

Automatic Data Processing, Inc (NASDAQ: ADP) is a provider of human capital management and business outsourcing solutions. The company helps organizations manage payroll, tax withholding and compliance, employee benefits, time and attendance, workforce management, talent acquisition, and human resources administration.

ADP offers cloud-based platforms and related services designed for businesses of different sizes, from small companies to large multinational employers. Its offerings include payroll and HR software, workforce analytics, talent management tools, retirement and insurance-related administration, and professional employer organization services through ADP TotalSource.