Barclays Boosts Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) Price Target to $282.00

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) had its target price hoisted by stock analysts at Barclays from $280.00 to $282.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the business services provider’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 16.59% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on ADP. Bank of America upgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $217.00 to $243.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $267.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $258.55.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

ADP stock traded down $5.46 during trading on Thursday, reaching $241.87. 405,395 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,783,091. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a market cap of $99.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.27, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.78. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $246.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $239.11. Automatic Data Processing has a 52-week low of $205.53 and a 52-week high of $256.84.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.79 by $0.09. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.14% and a return on equity of 95.22%. The business had revenue of $5.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing will post 9.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $215,750.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 8,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,071,250. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $215,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,071,250. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Joseph Desilva sold 1,904 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total transaction of $485,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 17,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,380,645. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 3,829 shares of company stock valued at $965,274. Company insiders own 0.26% 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. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 44,305 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,659,000 after acquiring an additional 1,399 shares during the period. NorthRock Partners LLC boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 27.3% during the 3rd quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 1,567 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $377,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares during the period. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 202,165 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $48,637,000 after acquiring an additional 3,400 shares during the period. Segment Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 53,999 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,991,000 after acquiring an additional 1,560 shares during the period. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 8.0% during the 3rd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 131,600 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $31,660,000 after acquiring an additional 9,800 shares during the period. 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.