Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) VP Brian L. Michaud Sells 362 Shares

Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.7 %

Automatic Data Processing stock traded up $2.04 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $291.69. 1,044,189 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,034,794. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a market cap of $118.85 billion, a PE ratio of 31.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $298.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $276.30. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $231.27 and a 12 month high of $309.63.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $4.83 billion for 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.08 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. This is a positive change from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is presently 65.74%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Automatic Data Processing

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ADP. Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 23.8% in the second quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 26,610 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,352,000 after purchasing an additional 5,114 shares during the last quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth $209,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 280,961 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $77,750,000 after buying an additional 15,340 shares in the last quarter. RIA Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter valued at about $470,000. Finally, Dash Acquisitions Inc. boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 5.6% in the third quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. now owns 52,329 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,069,000 after acquiring an additional 2,781 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ADP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.91.

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.