Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) Given New $305.00 Price Target at Stifel Nicolaus

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) had its target price hoisted by equities research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus to $305.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Stock Target Advisor reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price target indicates a potential upside of 0.47% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. TD Securities increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $296.00 to $298.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities 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 MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $303.55.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

ADP opened at $303.57 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The business’s 50 day moving average is $298.19 and its 200-day moving average is $298.75. The stock has a market cap of $123.69 billion, a PE ratio of 31.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. Automatic Data Processing has a twelve month low of $231.27 and a twelve month high of $322.84.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.09. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. The firm had revenue of $5.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.88 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total value of $144,832.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 7,244 shares in the company, valued at $2,218,112.80. This represents a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total value of $704,869.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $929,007.90. This trade represents a 43.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,775 shares of company stock valued at $1,447,893 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Automatic Data Processing

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,731,270 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $11,923,265,000 after purchasing an additional 277,324 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 buying an additional 65,965 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position 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 buying an additional 902,354 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 26.9% during 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 during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,886,552 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,137,710,000 after acquiring an additional 219,032 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently 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.