Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on ADP. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ ADP opened at $286.85 on Friday. Automatic Data Processing has a twelve month low of $231.27 and a twelve month high of $309.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $116.88 billion, a PE ratio of 30.61, a PEG ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $298.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $278.12.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.08 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the firm’s 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 in the company, valued at $4,027,233.98. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP David Foskett sold 1,004 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.29, for a total value of $290,447.16. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 5,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,723,589.82. This represents a 14.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 41,062 shares of company stock valued at $12,299,550. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Automatic Data Processing

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 92,324 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $22,037,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 2.7% in the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 8,071 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,927,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 34.2% in the second quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 8,885 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,120,000 after acquiring an additional 2,265 shares during the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 46.0% in the second quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 9,720 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,320,000 after acquiring an additional 3,063 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 0.8% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,426 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,682,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently 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.