FIL Ltd Acquires 6,928 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

FIL Ltd increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 158.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,310 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,928 shares during the quarter. FIL Ltd's holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $3,311,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at $708,000. Bath Savings Trust Co increased 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 acquiring an additional 1,951 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 529,690 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $146,581,000 after acquiring an additional 22,766 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 8.4% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 121.7% during the fourth quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 12,898 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,776,000 after purchasing an additional 7,080 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Christopher D'ambrosio sold 473 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,218,112.80. This represents a 6.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were 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 directly owns 12,073 shares in the company, valued at $3,686,852.74. This represents a 11.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,775 shares of company stock worth $1,447,893 over the last ninety days. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. 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 research analyst has 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 has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $302.30.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 0.3 %

Automatic Data Processing stock traded down $0.86 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $293.28. 1,667,100 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,676,839. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.50 billion, a PE ratio of 30.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $301.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $298.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $231.27 and a 52 week high of $322.84.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. 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.