Brokerages Set Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Target Price at $302.30

Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the ten ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $302.30.

Several analysts have weighed in on ADP shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

NASDAQ ADP opened at $305.53 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.86, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. The business’s 50 day moving average is $304.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $296.64. Automatic Data Processing has a 12-month low of $231.27 and a 12-month high of $322.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. Research analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.23%.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.15, for a total transaction of $305,322.05. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,140 shares in the company, valued at $1,756,961. This represents a 14.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total value of $144,832.60. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,218,112.80. This trade represents a 6.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,951 shares of company stock worth $1,762,074. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Automatic Data Processing

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 23.8% in the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 6,976 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,930,000 after purchasing an additional 1,339 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 12.9% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 17,514 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,847,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.2% in the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 12,285 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,400,000 after buying an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 331.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 5,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,375,000 after buying an additional 3,872 shares during the period. Finally, Centric Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 10,872 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,318,000 after buying an additional 117 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.