David Foskett Sells 1,004 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Stock

Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) VP David Foskett sold 1,004 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.29, for a total value of $290,447.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,723,589.82. The trade was a 14.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $288.40 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $298.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $277.66. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $231.27 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63. The firm has a market cap of $117.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.12. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. The company had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.08 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. This is a boost from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is currently 65.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on ADP shares. Barclays increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $289.91.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 21,259 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,074,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 11.2% in the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 9,543 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,278,000 after buying an additional 963 shares during the period. Custom Index Systems LLC bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the second quarter worth about $405,000. Mount Lucas Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 2nd quarter worth about $320,000. Finally, Trium Capital LLP bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,672,000. 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.