Barclays Raises Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) Price Target to $282.00

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) had its price objective raised by research analysts at Barclays from $280.00 to $282.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the business services provider's stock. Barclays's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 16.51% from the stock's previous close.

ADP has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Bank of America upgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the company from $217.00 to $243.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Mizuho upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $267.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $255.42.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 2.1 %

NASDAQ ADP traded down $5.30 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $242.03. 1,781,121 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,798,777. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $245.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $239.13. Automatic Data Processing has a 1-year low of $205.53 and a 1-year high of $256.84. The company has a market cap of $99.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.79 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $5.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.14% and a return on equity of 95.22%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing will post 9.14 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.01, for a total value of $90,899.68. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 20,319 shares in the company, valued at $5,018,996.19. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $215,750.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,285 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,071,250. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.01, for a total transaction of $90,899.68. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,319 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,018,996.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 3,829 shares of company stock worth $965,274. Insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Automatic Data Processing

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Diversified LLC bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 1st quarter valued at $206,000. Suncoast Equity Management lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 6.3% in the first quarter. Suncoast Equity Management now owns 103,131 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $25,756,000 after buying an additional 6,115 shares during the period. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.1% in the first quarter. Pegasus Asset Management Inc. now owns 21,427 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,351,000 after buying an additional 448 shares during the period. First Command Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 4.3% during the first quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,094 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $773,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FORA Capital LLC grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 22.5% during the first quarter. FORA Capital LLC now owns 56,886 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $14,207,000 after acquiring an additional 10,451 shares during the period. 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.