Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Receives Consensus Rating of "Hold" from Brokerages

Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Hold" from the eleven research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $305.64.

ADP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. TD Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 0.8%

ADP stock traded down $2.61 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $309.75. The stock had a trading volume of 1,798,851 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,703,336. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market cap of $125.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.30, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $306.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $302.88. Automatic Data Processing has a twelve month low of $231.27 and a twelve month high of $329.93.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $5.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.88 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing's payout ratio is 63.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total value of $458,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,686,852.74. The trade was a 11.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher D'ambrosio sold 478 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.14, for a total transaction of $140,120.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,364 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,158,682.96. This represents a 6.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Automatic Data Processing

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 34,655.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,901,007 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $886,345,000 after purchasing an additional 2,892,660 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the first quarter worth about $661,771,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth about $455,993,000. Winslow Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter worth approximately $396,714,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position 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 in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.