Everpar Advisors LLC Purchases 65 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Everpar Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,969 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $576,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of ADP stock opened at $296.23 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $298.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $279.45. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $231.27 and a 52-week high of $309.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $120.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $4.83 billion during 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 for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.08 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 2.08%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.74%.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total value of $210,236.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,077,721.04. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.15, for a total transaction of $305,322.05. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,140 shares in the company, valued at $1,756,961. This trade represents a 14.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 42,129 shares of company stock valued at $12,604,872. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 11th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.91.

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.