Insider Selling: Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) VP Sells 362 Shares of Stock

Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of ADP stock opened at $291.69 on Friday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $118.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $231.27 and a one year high of $309.63. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $298.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $276.63.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.77 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.08 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This is an increase from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is 65.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ADP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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 note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group raised 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 note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $289.91.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ADP. Founders Financial Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 2nd quarter valued at $218,000. Cozad Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.0% in the second quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,555 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,326,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 5.8% in the second quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,403 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,051,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 35.4% during the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,670 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $399,000 after buying an additional 437 shares during the period. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 6.3% during the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 852,275 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $203,430,000 after acquiring an additional 50,418 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.