Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (ADP) To Go Ex-Dividend on June 13th

Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, April 8th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of 1.54 per share by the business services provider on Tuesday, July 1st. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th.

Automatic Data Processing has increased its dividend payment by an average of 14.4% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 49 consecutive years. Automatic Data Processing has a dividend payout ratio of 56.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Automatic Data Processing to earn $10.82 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $6.16 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 56.9%.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 6.5 %

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $294.69 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $120.07 billion, a PE ratio of 30.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $302.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $297.29. Automatic Data Processing has a 1 year low of $231.27 and a 1 year high of $322.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. Equities research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ADP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays boosted their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $302.30.

Insider Activity

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.15, for a total value of $305,322.05. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,756,961. This represents a 14.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $929,007.90. This represents a 43.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,364 shares of company stock valued at $1,613,094. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Automatic Data Processing

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Automatic Data Processing stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 92.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,026 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,808 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $2,935,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

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.