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

Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have given a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $255.42.

Several brokerages recently commented on ADP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $254.00 to $250.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $267.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.01, for a total transaction of $90,899.68. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,018,996.19. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.01, for a total transaction of $90,899.68. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,018,996.19. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Joseph Desilva sold 1,904 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total value of $485,520.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 17,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,380,645. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 2,966 shares of company stock valued at $749,524. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Automatic Data Processing

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,596,142 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,224,713,000 after buying an additional 412,434 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,670,083 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,085,849,000 after buying an additional 198,008 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,902,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,420,028,000 after buying an additional 288,234 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,492,425 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,279,570,000 after buying an additional 249,566 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,576,575 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $855,287,000 after buying an additional 553,946 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $245.12 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $245.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $238.95. Automatic Data Processing has a twelve month low of $205.53 and a twelve month high of $256.84. The firm has a market cap of $100.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.78.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.79 by $0.09. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.56% and a return on equity of 93.09%. The firm had revenue of $5.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.52 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing will post 9.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.50%.

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.