Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) Reaches New 1-Year High at $278.94

Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $278.94 and last traded at $278.63, with a volume of 559156 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $275.59.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ADP has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $282.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com upgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Bank of America increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $265.36.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $258.85 and a 200 day moving average of $250.18. The stock has a market cap of $113.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.97, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $4.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.74 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 89.20% and a net margin of 19.54%. The company’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 10.04 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.50%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of Automatic Data Processing 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 88,426 shares in the company, valued at $23,959,908.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.60, for a total transaction of $228,927.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 10,410 shares in the company, valued at $2,816,946. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total transaction of $7,164,724.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 88,426 shares in the company, valued at $23,959,908.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 58,817 shares of company stock valued at $15,999,208. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Automatic Data Processing

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlueSpruce Investments LP purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $365,757,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth $308,321,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,543,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $825,487,000 after buying an additional 649,791 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 27.7% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,715,382 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $678,601,000 after purchasing an additional 589,831 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 238.1% in the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 784,003 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $195,797,000 after purchasing an additional 552,096 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.