Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Shares Bought by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 22.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,077 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,775 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $4,413,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ADP. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 3.4% during the third quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 1,054 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $292,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,742 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $482,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% in the third quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,485 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,902,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 4.4% during the third quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 923 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $255,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 22.1% during the third quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 221 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ADP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $289.91.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the company'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 transaction of $106,366.46. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at $4,027,233.98. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $11,692,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 32,604 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,781,200. The trade was a 54.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 42,129 shares of company stock worth $12,604,872 in the last ninety days. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $296.18. 2,405,360 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,454,451. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $231.27 and a twelve month high of $309.63. The company has a market cap of $120.68 billion, a PE ratio of 31.61, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $297.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $280.29.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.77 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. Automatic Data Processing's quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.08 EPS. Equities research 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 business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.74%.

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.