Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp Purchases Shares of 547 Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 547 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $160,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $708,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 5.8% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 280,961 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $77,750,000 after acquiring an additional 15,340 shares during the period. Bath Savings Trust Co raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 99,299 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,068,000 after acquiring an additional 1,951 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 529,690 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $146,581,000 after acquiring an additional 22,766 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 667,068 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $194,117,000 after purchasing an additional 51,828 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total transaction of $144,832.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,218,112.80. This trade represents a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total value of $704,869.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $929,007.90. This trade 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 sold 5,951 shares of company stock valued at $1,762,074. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $302.30.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 1.0 %

ADP stock opened at $302.41 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $303.59 and a 200-day moving average of $295.96. The company has a market cap of $123.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.53, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $231.27 and a twelve month high of $322.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is presently 64.23%.

Automatic Data Processing 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.