Analysts Set Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Target Price at $293.55

Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have given a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $293.55.

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ ADP opened at $310.22 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $126.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.35, a PEG ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing has a 52 week low of $231.27 and a 52 week high of $311.67. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $297.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $287.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total transaction of $704,869.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,063 shares in the company, valued at $929,007.90. This trade represents a 43.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total value of $210,236.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,077,721.04. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,478 shares of company stock valued at $1,617,241 in the last three months. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Accredited Investors Inc. grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 4,431.5% during the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,315,295 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $640,712,000 after buying an additional 2,264,202 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth $455,993,000. Winslow Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter worth $396,714,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 28,478.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,194,587 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,305,780,000 after purchasing an additional 1,190,407 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth about $342,942,000. 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.