Lee Danner & Bass Inc. Purchases New Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 2,174 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $636,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on ADP. Barclays lifted their price target 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 increased 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 reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group increased 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, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $296.18.

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Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ADP traded up $3.03 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $302.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,851,076 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,462,604. The business's fifty day moving average is $303.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $295.91. The stock has a market cap of $123.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.53, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $231.27 and a 1 year high of $322.84.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (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%. Analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. Automatic Data Processing's payout ratio is 64.23%.

Insider Activity

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total value of $106,366.46. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher D'ambrosio sold 473 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,244 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,218,112.80. The trade was a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,951 shares of company stock valued at $1,762,074 in the last three months. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.