Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Announces Dividend Increase – $1.54 Per Share

Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, November 6th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of 1.54 per share by the business services provider on Wednesday, January 1st. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. This is a boost from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40.

Automatic Data Processing has raised its dividend payment by an average of 12.1% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 48 consecutive years. Automatic Data Processing has a dividend payout ratio of 55.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Automatic Data Processing to earn $10.80 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 51.9%.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

NASDAQ ADP traded up $9.58 on Wednesday, reaching $300.76. The stock had a trading volume of 50,033 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,624,451. 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 stock has a market cap of $122.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.79. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $282.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $260.80. Automatic Data Processing has a 12-month low of $219.21 and a 12-month high of $302.08.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. The firm had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.08 EPS. Automatic Data Processing’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ADP. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $289.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total transaction of $2,479,748.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 36,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,899,862.45. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total transaction of $2,479,748.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,899,862.45. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Don Mcguire sold 3,179 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total value of $872,254.02. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 41,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,440,548.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 58,817 shares of company stock worth $15,999,208. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.