Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) Given New $305.00 Price Target at Stifel Nicolaus

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) had its price objective increased by stock analysts at Stifel Nicolaus to $305.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Stock Target Advisor reports. The firm currently has a "buy" rating on the business services provider's stock. Stifel Nicolaus' target price would indicate a potential upside of 0.34% from the company's previous close.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. TD Securities raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $296.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday. Barclays boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $303.55.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ ADP traded up $0.39 on Friday, reaching $303.96. 1,232,800 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,686,130. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $298.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $298.80. The company has a market cap of $123.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. Automatic Data Processing has a 12 month low of $231.27 and a 12 month high of $322.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.09. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. The company had revenue of $5.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.88 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Christopher D'ambrosio sold 478 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.14, for a total value of $140,120.92. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total transaction of $458,070.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,686,852.74. This represents a 11.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,451 shares of company stock worth $743,024. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Automatic Data Processing

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ADP. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,731,270 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $11,923,265,000 after purchasing an additional 277,324 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,583,607 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,098,305,000 after buying an additional 65,965 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,174,419 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,807,438,000 after purchasing an additional 902,354 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 26.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,136,763 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,796,415,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,886,552 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,137,710,000 after purchasing an additional 219,032 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.