Fayez Sarofim & Co Has $397.60 Million Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Fayez Sarofim & Co increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 4.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,358,258 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 61,458 shares during the period. Fayez Sarofim & Co owned about 0.33% of Automatic Data Processing worth $397,603,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 121.8% in the 4th quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 122 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on ADP. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday. 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 report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $302.30.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total transaction of $458,070.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,686,852.74. The trade was a 11.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,063 shares in the company, valued at $929,007.90. The trade was a 43.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 4,775 shares of company stock worth $1,447,893 in the last quarter. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:ADP traded up $1.01 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $294.55. 1,685,892 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,682,839. The company has a market capitalization of $120.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.74. 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 company's 50 day moving average is $300.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $298.23. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $231.27 and a twelve month high of $322.84.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. On average, 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.23%.

About Automatic Data Processing

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.