Westerkirk Capital Inc. Has $4.48 Million Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. $ADP

Westerkirk Capital Inc. grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 35.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 17,401 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,539 shares during the quarter. Westerkirk Capital Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $4,476,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ADP. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 6,493.0% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,468,180 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $892,120,000 after purchasing an additional 3,415,576 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $721,738,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 47.8% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,830,294 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,004,691,000 after purchasing an additional 2,208,927 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 133.3% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,687,793 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $434,151,000 after purchasing an additional 964,405 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 32.1% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,273,700 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $960,831,000 after purchasing an additional 796,379 shares during the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ADP. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $240.00 in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $311.00 to $274.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $300.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Automatic Data Processing from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $214.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $230.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $244.29.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 543 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $208.45, for a total value of $113,188.35. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 8,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,857,706.40. The trade was a 5.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 1.2%

ADP stock opened at $229.07 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 1.04. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $210.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $229.83. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $188.16 and a one year high of $325.84. The stock has a market cap of $91.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.37 and a beta of 0.84.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The business services provider reported $3.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.30 by $0.07. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 20.12% and a return on equity of 68.82%. The firm had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.85 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.06 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Automatic Data Processing has set its FY 2026 guidance at 11.010-11.110 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 11.07 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be given a $1.70 dividend. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is presently 63.43%.

About Automatic Data Processing

Automatic Data Processing, Inc (ADP) is a global provider of cloud-based human capital management (HCM) and payroll solutions. Founded in 1949 and headquartered in Roseland, New Jersey, ADP began as a payroll processing company and has evolved into a diversified provider of workforce management, HR, benefits administration, tax and compliance services, and analytics for employers of all sizes.

ADP’s product portfolio includes payroll processing and tax filing, time and attendance systems, benefits administration, talent management, and HR outsourcing.