Crux Wealth Advisors Takes $356,000 Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Crux Wealth Advisors acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,216 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $356,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth about $708,000. Bath Savings Trust Co raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 99,299 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $29,068,000 after buying an additional 1,951 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 529,690 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $146,581,000 after acquiring an additional 22,766 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 8.4% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 667,068 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $194,117,000 after acquiring an additional 51,828 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 121.7% in the fourth quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 12,898 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,776,000 after purchasing an additional 7,080 shares during the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on ADP. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $302.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total value of $458,070.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 12,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,686,852.74. This represents a 11.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher D'ambrosio sold 473 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total value of $144,832.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,218,112.80. This represents a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 three months. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

ADP stock traded down $0.86 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $293.28. 1,667,100 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,676,839. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $231.27 and a 1-year high of $322.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.50 billion, a PE ratio of 30.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.74. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $301.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of $298.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 EPS 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, equities 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, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $1.54 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio 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.