Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) Sets New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $326.00 and last traded at $325.71, with a volume of 1636596 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $321.09.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ADP has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $305.64.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $301.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $301.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $132.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.09. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. The business had revenue of $5.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.88 earnings per share. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is 63.05%.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total value of $144,832.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,218,112.80. This trade represents a 6.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total transaction of $458,070.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,686,852.74. The trade was a 11.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,451 shares of company stock valued at $743,024. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Automatic Data Processing

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,949,884 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,511,418,000 after purchasing an additional 218,614 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,583,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,098,305,000 after purchasing an additional 65,965 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,174,419 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,807,438,000 after purchasing an additional 902,354 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 26.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,136,763 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,796,415,000 after buying an additional 1,299,390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 15.7% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,431,478 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,348,805,000 after buying an additional 601,400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

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.