Zacks Research Analysts Lift Earnings Estimates for ADP

Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) – Zacks Research increased their Q3 2026 earnings estimates for shares of Automatic Data Processing in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, February 19th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now forecasts that the business services provider will earn $2.99 per share for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of $2.96. The consensus estimate for Automatic Data Processing’s current full-year earnings is $9.93 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Automatic Data Processing’s Q1 2027 earnings at $2.69 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $2.88 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $11.75 EPS.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $293.55.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ ADP opened at $313.37 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $299.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $291.25. The company has a market capitalization of $127.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.68, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing has a twelve month low of $231.27 and a twelve month high of $314.70.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Accredited Investors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4,431.5% in the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,315,295 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $640,712,000 after purchasing an additional 2,264,202 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $455,993,000. Winslow Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $396,714,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 26.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,136,763 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,796,415,000 after buying an additional 1,299,390 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth approximately $342,942,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total value of $210,236.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 68,856 shares in the company, valued at $20,077,721.04. This trade represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total value of $106,366.46. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. The trade was a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,478 shares of company stock worth $1,617,241 over the last ninety days. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.23%.

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.