Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Morgan Stanley Analyst Says

Key Points

Error: Response status code does not indicate success: 429 (Too Many Requests).

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) had its target price boosted by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $310.00 to $311.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "equal weight" rating on the business services provider's stock. Morgan Stanley's price target points to a potential upside of 2.90% from the company's current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on ADP. UBS Group dropped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $323.00 to $315.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 13th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Automatic Data Processing to a "hold" rating and set a $340.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, TD Securities lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $314.33.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of ADP stock traded up $1.81 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $302.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 129,016 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,750,278. The stock has a market capitalization of $122.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.81. Automatic Data Processing has a one year low of $256.47 and a one year high of $329.93. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $310.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $305.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 72.84% and a net margin of 19.84%. The company had revenue of $5.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ADP. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 34,655.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,901,007 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $886,345,000 after purchasing an additional 2,892,660 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the first quarter valued at $661,771,000. Winslow Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at $396,714,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 26.9% during the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 1,299,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,174,419 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,807,438,000 after acquiring an additional 902,354 shares during the last quarter. 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.