Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) Given Sector Perform Rating at Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada restated their sector perform rating on shares of Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) in a research report report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $315.00 target price on the business services provider’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on ADP. StockNews.com cut shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. TD Securities raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $296.00 to $298.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $303.55.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ADP opened at $303.57 on Thursday. Automatic Data Processing has a 52 week low of $231.27 and a 52 week high of $322.84. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $298.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $298.75. 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 company has a market cap of $123.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $5.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.49 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.88 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 478 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 10th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,158,682.96. The trade was a 6.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total transaction of $704,869.20. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 3,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $929,007.90. This trade represents a 43.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,775 shares of company stock valued at $1,447,893 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ADP. Virtu Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 202.7% in the third quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 4,870 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,348,000 after acquiring an additional 3,261 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 22.6% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,466 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,066,000 after purchasing an additional 1,378 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 667,068 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $194,117,000 after purchasing an additional 51,828 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 529,690 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $146,581,000 after buying an additional 22,766 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IMPACTfolio LLC purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth approximately $204,000. 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.