Smith Salley Wealth Management Buys 8,853 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. $ADP

Smith Salley Wealth Management raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 945.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 9,789 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,853 shares during the quarter. Smith Salley Wealth Management’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $2,873,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ADP. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 35.2% in the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 312,473 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $96,367,000 after buying an additional 81,323 shares during the period. Advisory Alpha LLC boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 130.2% during the 1st quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 4,416 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,349,000 after acquiring an additional 2,498 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co now owns 32,478 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,923,000 after acquiring an additional 1,375 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 17.5% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 13,956 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,096,000 after acquiring an additional 2,075 shares during the period. Finally, MGO One Seven LLC raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 18.3% in the 2nd quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 13,578 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,187,000 after acquiring an additional 2,105 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on ADP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $340.00 to $295.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $315.00 to $290.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $303.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $230.00 price target (down from $245.00) on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $306.42.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP opened at $259.50 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $259.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $285.47. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $247.18 and a 1 year high of $329.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company has a market capitalization of $104.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.62 and a beta of 0.86.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The business services provider reported $2.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.44 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $5.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.14 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 70.63% and a net margin of 19.79%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.33 EPS. Automatic Data Processing has set its FY 2026 guidance at 10.811-11.011 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a dividend of $1.70 per share. This is a boost from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.54. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $6.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is currently 67.13%.

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.