Invesco Ltd. Acquires 219,032 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,886,552 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 219,032 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned about 0.95% of Automatic Data Processing worth $1,137,710,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ADP. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC grew its position in 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 worth $35,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ADP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on 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 restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $302.30.

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Insider Activity

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 12,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,686,852.74. This represents 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 through the SEC website. Also, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were 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 directly owns 3,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $929,007.90. This represents a 43.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,364 shares of company stock worth $1,613,094. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP traded up $7.33 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $299.54. 2,187,994 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,671,064. The company has a market capitalization of $122.05 billion, a PE ratio of 31.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.74. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $231.27 and a 52-week high of $322.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $302.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $297.56.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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%. As a group, research analysts predict 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 given a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio is 64.23%.

Automatic Data Processing 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.