Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have given a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $302.30.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of ADP opened at $295.77 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $120.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.84, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.74. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $298.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $298.53. Automatic Data Processing has a 52-week low of $231.27 and a 52-week high of $322.84.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. Analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.23%.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total value of $458,070.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,073 shares in the company, valued at $3,686,852.74. The trade was a 11.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total transaction of $144,832.60. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 7,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,218,112.80. The trade was a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,775 shares of company stock worth $1,447,893 over the last quarter. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Automatic Data Processing

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ADP. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 34,655.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,901,007 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $886,345,000 after purchasing an additional 2,892,660 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at about $455,993,000. Winslow Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter worth about $396,714,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 26.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,299,390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $342,942,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

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.