Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) Downgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning.

ADP has been the subject of several other research reports. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $254.00 to $250.00 and set an underweight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an underperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Barclays raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $253.00 to $251.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $255.42.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

ADP opened at $236.91 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $96.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.44, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a 50-day moving average of $245.18 and a 200-day moving average of $243.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. Automatic Data Processing has a 1-year low of $205.53 and a 1-year high of $256.84.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.79 by $0.09. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 93.09% and a net margin of 19.56%. The business had revenue of $5.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.52 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing will post 9.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Automatic Data Processing

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 99.4% during the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 21,574 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,190,000 after buying an additional 10,755 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 181,901 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $43,768,000 after purchasing an additional 9,831 shares during the period. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 50.2% during the 3rd quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 12,610 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,034,000 after purchasing an additional 4,217 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 121.2% in the third quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,853 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $686,000 after buying an additional 1,563 shares during the period. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 64.1% during the third quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 55,442 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,338,000 after buying an additional 21,658 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.