Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Declares $1.54 Quarterly Dividend

Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, January 15th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of 1.54 per share by the business services provider on Tuesday, April 1st. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%.

Automatic Data Processing has increased its dividend payment by an average of 14.4% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 49 consecutive years. Automatic Data Processing has a dividend payout ratio of 56.6% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Automatic Data Processing to earn $10.79 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 57.1%.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ ADP traded up $1.68 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $293.37. The stock had a trading volume of 1,694,025 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,526,322. The business's fifty day moving average price is $298.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $279.35. The firm has a market cap of $119.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing has a 52-week low of $231.27 and a 52-week high of $309.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last posted 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 business had revenue of $4.83 billion for 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%. The business's revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.08 EPS. Analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ADP shares. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group boosted their price target 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Two investment analysts have 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, Automatic Data Processing presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $289.91.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $11,692,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 32,604 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,781,200. The trade was a 54.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.15, for a total transaction of $305,322.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,756,961. This trade represents a 14.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 42,129 shares of company stock worth $12,604,872 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.21% 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.

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