Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) Price Target Cut to $251.00

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) had its target price decreased by TD Cowen from $253.00 to $251.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. TD Cowen currently has a hold rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Thursday. Bank of America raised Automatic Data Processing from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and raised their target price for the stock from $217.00 to $243.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $254.00 to $250.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Wolfe Research upgraded Automatic Data Processing from an underperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $255.42.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of ADP opened at $241.89 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. Automatic Data Processing has a 52 week low of $205.53 and a 52 week high of $256.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.00, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $245.63 and a 200-day moving average of $238.95.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.79 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $5.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 93.09% and a net margin of 19.56%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.52 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing will post 9.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were 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 $5,018,996.19. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.01, for a total value of $90,899.68. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,319 shares in the company, valued at $5,018,996.19. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Joseph Desilva sold 1,904 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total value of $485,520.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 17,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,380,645. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 3,829 shares of company stock valued at $965,274. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ADP. Norges Bank bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at about $308,321,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 22,539.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 934,326 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $217,670,000 after acquiring an additional 930,199 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 40.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,128,701 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $752,703,000 after purchasing an additional 905,043 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,543,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $825,487,000 after purchasing an additional 649,791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 27.7% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,715,382 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $678,601,000 after purchasing an additional 589,831 shares during the period. 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.