Insider Selling: Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) VP Sells 1,500 Shares of Stock

Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total transaction of $458,070.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 12,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,686,852.74. The trade was a 11.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ ADP traded up $0.69 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $307.23. The company had a trading volume of 1,069,692 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,627,990. The company’s fifty day moving average is $304.22 and its 200-day moving average is $296.84. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $231.27 and a one year high of $322.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a market cap of $125.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is presently 64.23%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Automatic Data Processing

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Trust Co of the South lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 1.5% during the first quarter. Trust Co of the South now owns 3,075 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $940,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 7.6% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,918 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $892,000 after acquiring an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Milestone Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter worth about $769,000. M1 Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $383,000. Finally, Chancellor Financial Group WB LP bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $362,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ADP shares. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $302.30.

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.