Dover Advisors LLC Takes Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Dover Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 720 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $211,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Partners Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth about $356,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth about $1,721,000. MONECO Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 11,469 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,357,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,740 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,095,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Howard Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,100 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,542,000 after acquiring an additional 343 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 0.4 %

ADP opened at $310.76 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $298.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $290.54. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $231.27 and a twelve month high of $313.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $126.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.40, a PEG ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on ADP. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $293.55.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 $929,007.90. This represents a 43.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,478 shares of company stock valued at $1,617,241. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.