Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Has $142.26 Million Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 14.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 485,976 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 61,600 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned approximately 0.12% of Automatic Data Processing worth $142,260,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 121.8% in the fourth quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 122 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Christopher D'ambrosio sold 473 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total transaction of $144,832.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 7,244 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,218,112.80. This represents a 6.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total transaction of $704,869.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,063 shares in the company, valued at $929,007.90. This trade represents a 43.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,775 shares of company stock worth $1,447,893. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ADP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $302.30.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of ADP opened at $292.89 on Wednesday. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $231.27 and a 52 week high of $322.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.54, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $300.49 and a 200-day moving average of $298.26.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing's payout ratio is 64.23%.

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.

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