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

Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $289.91.

ADP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price 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. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $11,692,500.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 32,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,781,200. This represents a 54.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 19,147 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 92,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,464,384.66. This represents a 17.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 70,504 shares of company stock valued at $20,298,056 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Automatic Data Processing

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ADP. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 70.7% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 638,507 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $152,405,000 after purchasing an additional 264,466 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 23.8% in the 2nd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 26,610 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,352,000 after acquiring an additional 5,114 shares during the period. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth $209,000. ORG Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2,917.1% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 4,224 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $997,000 after purchasing an additional 4,084 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter valued at $470,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ ADP opened at $306.92 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $125.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. Automatic Data Processing has a 1 year low of $227.12 and a 1 year high of $309.63. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $291.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $267.58.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 EPS 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 business had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.08 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. This is a positive change from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.77%.

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.