Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP – Get Rating) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 4,200,000 shares, a decrease of 12.1% from the February 13th total of 4,780,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,880,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.2 days. Approximately 1.0% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ADP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $280.00 to $278.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Sunday, January 29th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $253.00 to $245.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $285.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 26th. Finally, Wolfe Research lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $220.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $246.10.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 2.5 %

ADP stock opened at $213.56 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $88.49 billion, a PE ratio of 28.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.81. Automatic Data Processing has a one year low of $196.61 and a one year high of $274.92. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $229.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $238.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 0.99.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 25th. The business services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.01. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 18.24% and a return on equity of 96.94%. The company had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing will post 8.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 9th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Donald Weinstein sold 11,427 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.83, for a total value of $2,751,964.41. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 32,950 shares in the company, valued at $7,935,348.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, VP Donald Weinstein sold 11,427 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.83, for a total transaction of $2,751,964.41. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 32,950 shares in the company, valued at $7,935,348.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 37,594 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.29, for a total transaction of $9,071,056.26. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 44,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,732,820.49. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 106,350 shares of company stock worth $25,301,670. Insiders own 0.33% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Automatic Data Processing

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 94,265.5% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,770,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,617,256,000 after acquiring an additional 6,763,553 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth approximately $531,416,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 325.2% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Kokusai Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,265,068 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $286,146,000 after acquiring an additional 967,534 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 39.8% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 3,010,023 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $733,450,000 after purchasing an additional 856,540 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,586,824 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,051,049,000 after purchasing an additional 822,790 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.24% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Company Profile

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Automatic Data Processing, Inc engages in the provision of business outsourcing solutions specializing in cloud-based human capital management. It operates through the following business segments: Employer Services, Professional Employer Organization Services, and Other. The Employer Services segment provides clients ranging from single-employee small businesses to large enterprises with tens of thousands of employees around the world, offering a range of human resources outsourcing and technology-based human capital management solutions, including strategic, cloud-based platforms.