Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP) to Distribute Quarterly Dividend of $1.40 on July 1st

Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, April 3rd, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of 1.40 per share by the business services provider on Monday, July 1st. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%.

Automatic Data Processing has raised its dividend by an average of 12.1% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 48 years. Automatic Data Processing has a payout ratio of 56.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Automatic Data Processing to earn $10.01 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 55.9%.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

NASDAQ ADP opened at $241.49 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $247.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $238.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.78. Automatic Data Processing has a 52-week low of $201.46 and a 52-week high of $256.84.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $4.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.65 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.14% and a return on equity of 95.22%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.96 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing will post 9.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ADP has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Mizuho increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Wolfe Research upgraded Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $217.00 to $243.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $254.58.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.01, for a total transaction of $90,899.68. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,018,996.19. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.01, for a total transaction of $90,899.68. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,018,996.19. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Joseph Desilva sold 1,904 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total value of $485,520.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 17,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,380,645. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 16,662 shares of company stock worth $4,094,554 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Automatic Data Processing

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 94,265.5% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,770,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,617,256,000 after buying an additional 6,763,553 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at about $531,416,000. Imprint Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 24,743.9% during the 2nd quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 987,795 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $98,780,000 after acquiring an additional 983,819 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,010,014 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,629,852,000 after acquiring an additional 794,328 shares during the period. Finally, CI Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth approximately $135,913,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Company Profile

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.