David Foskett Sells 1,004 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Stock

Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) VP David Foskett sold 1,004 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.29, for a total value of $290,447.16. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,723,589.82. This trade represents a 14.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 0.4 %

Automatic Data Processing stock traded up $1.27 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $288.40. 1,448,071 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,249,797. The stock has a market capitalization of $117.51 billion, a PE ratio of 30.78, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $298.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $277.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $231.27 and a 52 week high of $309.63.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.12. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. The company had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS 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. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This is a boost from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is 65.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ADP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $289.91.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ADP. Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 23.8% during 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 period. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $209,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised 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 worth $77,750,000 after purchasing an additional 15,340 shares during the last quarter. RIA Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter worth $470,000. Finally, Dash Acquisitions Inc. lifted its stake 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 valued at $15,069,000 after buying an additional 2,781 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.