Insider Selling: Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) CEO Sells $210,236.39 in Stock

Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total transaction of $210,236.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,077,721.04. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ADP opened at $291.89 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $231.27 and a twelve month high of $309.63. The company has a fifty day moving average of $298.43 and a 200-day moving average of $277.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79.

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

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $1.54 dividend. 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 a boost from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ADP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Mizuho increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com raised Automatic Data Processing from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. TD Cowen increased 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 report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $289.91.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Automatic Data Processing

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 78.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. 80.03% of the stock is 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.