Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Short Interest Down 12.1% in March

Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) saw a large decrease in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,560,000 shares, a decrease of 12.1% from the March 15th total of 5,190,000 shares. Approximately 1.1% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,870,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ADP shares. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $267.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Bank of America upgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $217.00 to $243.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $254.58.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP opened at $243.85 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Automatic Data Processing has a 52-week low of $201.46 and a 52-week high of $256.84. The company has a 50 day moving average of $247.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $239.12. The company has a market capitalization of $100.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.78.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.14% and a return on equity of 95.22%. The company had revenue of $4.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.96 earnings per share. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing will post 9.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Joseph Desilva sold 1,904 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total value of $485,520.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 17,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,380,645. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Joseph Desilva sold 1,904 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total value of $485,520.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 17,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,380,645. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.01, for a total transaction of $90,899.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,319 shares in the company, valued at $5,018,996.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 16,662 shares of company stock worth $4,094,554. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Automatic Data Processing

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Aspect Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

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.