Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) Given New $310.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) had its price target upped by Morgan Stanley from $305.00 to $310.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an equal weight rating on the business services provider’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. TD Securities increased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $323.00 to $315.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $321.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $307.08.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 0.1%

ADP stock opened at $307.62 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing has a 52-week low of $231.27 and a 52-week high of $329.93. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $308.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $302.89.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $5.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.49 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.79% and a return on equity of 77.33%. The company’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.88 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 63.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total transaction of $458,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,073 shares in the company, valued at $3,686,852.74. The trade was a 11.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 478 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.14, for a total value of $140,120.92. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,158,682.96. This represents a 6.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Automatic Data Processing

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,949,884 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,511,418,000 after purchasing an additional 218,614 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,583,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,098,305,000 after buying an additional 65,965 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,174,419 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,807,438,000 after acquiring an additional 902,354 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 26.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,136,763 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,796,415,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299,390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 15.7% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,431,478 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,348,805,000 after acquiring an additional 601,400 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

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.