Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Shares Bought by Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 88,064 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 164 shares during the quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $25,779,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter worth about $507,000. Curio Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $120,000. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 7,618 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,230,000 after purchasing an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 8,988 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,631,000 after buying an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 73,361 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $21,475,000 after purchasing an additional 9,019 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ADP shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays lifted their price objective on 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 upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.18.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 1.7 %

ADP opened at $296.58 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $120.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $231.27 and a one year high of $322.84. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $302.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $294.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00.

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%. Analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 64.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of Automatic Data Processing 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. The trade was a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP David Foskett sold 1,004 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.29, for a total transaction of $290,447.16. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,723,589.82. The trade was a 14.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,951 shares of company stock valued at $1,762,074. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.