Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) Price Target Raised to $267.00

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) had its price objective increased by Bank of America from $250.00 to $267.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the business services provider’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on ADP. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a sector perform rating and issued a $267.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $254.00 to $250.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $259.64.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of ADP opened at $263.52 on Thursday. Automatic Data Processing has a fifty-two week low of $205.53 and a fifty-two week high of $269.49. The company has a market capitalization of $107.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $245.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $245.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $4.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.74 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.54% and a return on equity of 89.20%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing will post 10.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Automatic Data Processing

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlueSpruce Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 1st quarter valued at $365,757,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at $308,321,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 22,539.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 930,199 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 22.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,543,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $825,487,000 after purchasing an additional 649,791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 27.7% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,715,382 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $678,601,000 after acquiring an additional 589,831 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.