Brokerages Set Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Price Target at $289.91

Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) have received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have given a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $289.91.

ADP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $306.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. Automatic Data Processing has a one year low of $227.12 and a one year high of $309.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $292.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $268.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.06 billion, a PE ratio of 32.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.08 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. This is a positive change from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is presently 65.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total transaction of $2,479,748.35. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,899,862.45. This trade represents a 20.03 % 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 Don Mcguire sold 3,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total transaction of $872,254.02. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 41,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,440,548.48. The trade was a 7.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 70,504 shares of company stock worth $20,298,056. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 78.5% during the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.