Wells Fargo & Company Upgrades Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) to Strong Sell

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) was upgraded by Wells Fargo & Company to a “strong sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on ADP. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $305.00 to $318.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $315.00 to $290.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing to a “hold” rating and set a $340.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $314.09.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of ADP stock opened at $283.95 on Tuesday. Automatic Data Processing has a 52-week low of $272.62 and a 52-week high of $329.93. The stock has a market cap of $115.03 billion, a PE ratio of 28.45, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.82. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $294.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $302.01.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 19.84% and a return on equity of 72.84%. The firm had revenue of $5.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.05 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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, analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 597 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.90, for a total value of $177,249.30. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 10,541 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,129,622.90. The trade was a 5.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP David Foskett sold 1,373 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $3,493,891.17. The trade was a 10.44% 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 valued at $15,632,410 over the last quarter. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Automatic Data Processing

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Activest Wealth Management increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 2,600.0% in the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 81 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Mid American Wealth Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Solstein Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Automatic Data Processing Company Profile

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.