Christopher D’ambrosio Sells 473 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Stock

Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total value of $144,832.60. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,218,112.80. This represents a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of ADP traded up $1.74 on Wednesday, hitting $294.18. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,951,150 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,505,898. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $231.27 and a fifty-two week 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. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $302.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $294.33.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.09%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is 64.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ADP shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.18.

Institutional Trading of Automatic Data Processing

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Accredited Investors Inc. raised 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 acquiring an additional 2,264,202 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth about $455,993,000. Winslow Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at about $396,714,000. 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 valued at $1,796,415,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth about $342,942,000. 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.