Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Short Interest Up 6.6% in January

Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,810,000 shares, a growth of 6.6% from the January 15th total of 5,450,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,740,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.3 days. Currently, 1.4% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,027,233.98. The trade was a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total value of $704,869.20. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $929,007.90. This trade represents a 43.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,478 shares of company stock valued at $1,617,241 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Automatic Data Processing

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 121.8% during the 4th quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

ADP opened at $308.15 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $125.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $297.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $288.58. Automatic Data Processing has a 1-year low of $231.27 and a 1-year high of $311.67.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is currently 64.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ADP has been the subject of several research reports. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $293.55.

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.