Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Plans $1.40 Quarterly Dividend

Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, August 7th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of 1.40 per share by the business services provider on Tuesday, October 1st. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th.

Automatic Data Processing has raised its dividend payment by an average of 12.1% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 48 consecutive years. Automatic Data Processing has a payout ratio of 55.8% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Automatic Data Processing to earn $10.87 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $5.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 51.5%.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of ADP stock opened at $279.26 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company has a market cap of $113.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.17, a PEG ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing has a 1 year low of $205.53 and a 1 year high of $279.58. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $258.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $249.99.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 89.20% and a net margin of 19.54%. The business had revenue of $4.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $282.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $265.36.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP Don Mcguire sold 3,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total value of $872,254.02. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 41,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,440,548.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, VP Don Mcguire sold 3,179 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total value of $872,254.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 41,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,440,548.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total value of $7,164,724.32. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 88,426 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,959,908.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 58,817 shares of company stock valued at $15,999,208. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.