Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Shares Bought by Park Avenue Securities LLC

Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 8.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 16,677 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,231 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $4,882,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the second quarter worth $27,044,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 237.6% in the 2nd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 6,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,606,000 after purchasing an additional 4,735 shares during the last quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,111 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $981,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the period. Waterloo Capital L.P. raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 10.2% during the second quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 1,057 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $252,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the second quarter valued at about $314,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ADP shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 11th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.91.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $11,692,500.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at $9,781,200. This trade represents a 54.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total value of $106,366.46. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,027,233.98. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 42,129 shares of company stock worth $12,604,872 over the last three months. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP opened at $296.23 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $298.24 and a 200-day moving average of $279.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $231.27 and a twelve month high of $309.63. The firm has a market cap of $120.70 billion, a PE ratio of 31.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. The business had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.08 earnings per share. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is 65.74%.

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.