Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) Sets New 12-Month High After Dividend Announcement

Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The company traded as high as $299.80 and last traded at $299.45, with a volume of 11114 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $291.18.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. This is a positive change from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 59.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ADP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Mizuho lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 4.8 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a market capitalization of $124.46 billion, a PE ratio of 32.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $282.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $261.11.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. The firm had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total value of $7,164,724.32. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 88,426 shares in the company, valued at $23,959,908.96. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Automatic Data Processing news, CEO Maria Black sold 19,147 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total transaction of $5,253,553.86. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 92,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,464,384.66. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total value of $7,164,724.32. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 88,426 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,959,908.96. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 58,817 shares of company stock worth $15,999,208 over the last three months. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Automatic Data Processing

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ADP. Advisory Alpha LLC raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.4% in the first quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 1,316 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $329,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 10.8% in the first quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 16,991 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,243,000 after acquiring an additional 1,654 shares during the last quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 6.0% in the first quarter. Gallacher Capital Management LLC now owns 1,296 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $324,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 3.4% in the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 15,089 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,768,000 after acquiring an additional 501 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 49.2% in the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 24,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,996,000 after purchasing an additional 7,921 shares during the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.