Short Interest in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Drops By 7.4%

Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,540,000 shares, a drop of 7.4% from the September 30th total of 7,060,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,540,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.2 days. Currently, 1.6% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ADP. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $267.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $277.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total value of $2,479,748.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 36,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,899,862.45. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.60, for a total transaction of $228,927.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 10,410 shares in the company, valued at $2,816,946. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 36,741 shares in the company, valued at $9,899,862.45. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 58,817 shares of company stock worth $15,999,208 in the last ninety days. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Automatic Data Processing

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ADP. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,769,440 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,932,020,000 after purchasing an additional 173,298 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,065,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $964,989,000 after purchasing an additional 435,093 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,625,186 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $905,354,000 after buying an additional 81,869 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,548,165 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $846,912,000 after buying an additional 139,561 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 27.7% during the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,715,382 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $678,601,000 after buying an additional 589,831 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ADP opened at $287.95 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $280.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $259.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $117.86 billion, a PE ratio of 32.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing has a fifty-two week low of $205.53 and a fifty-two week high of $294.18.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.54% and a return on equity of 89.20%. The company had revenue of $4.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is currently 62.50%.

Automatic Data Processing Company Profile

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.