Short Interest in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Decreases By 7.4%

Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,540,000 shares, a drop of 7.4% from the September 30th total of 7,060,000 shares. Currently, 1.6% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 1,540,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.2 days.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ ADP opened at $292.78 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.68, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $280.80 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $259.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Automatic Data Processing has a 52-week low of $205.53 and a 52-week high of $294.18.

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

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is currently 62.50%.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total transaction of $2,479,748.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 36,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,899,862.45. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total transaction of $7,164,724.32. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 88,426 shares in the company, valued at $23,959,908.96. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total value of $2,479,748.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 36,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,899,862.45. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 58,817 shares of company stock worth $15,999,208. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,769,440 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,932,020,000 after acquiring an additional 173,298 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,065,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $964,989,000 after purchasing an additional 435,093 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,625,186 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $905,354,000 after purchasing an additional 81,869 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.1% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,548,165 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $846,912,000 after purchasing an additional 139,561 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 27.7% during 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 buying an additional 589,831 shares during the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ADP shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $282.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $277.64.

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.