Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 14.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 101,295 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 12,540 shares during the quarter. Automatic Data Processing accounts for 0.8% of Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.'s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $29,652,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 125,845 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $34,834,000 after acquiring an additional 5,076 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 2,248.7% during the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 3,711 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,027,000 after purchasing an additional 3,553 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% during the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 86,808 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $24,051,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.8% in the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 20,454 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,664,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Finally, West Family Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 23.0% in the third quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 1,557 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company's stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several brokerages have commented on ADP. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $315.00 price target 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 note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $296.18.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on Automatic Data Processing
Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing
In other Automatic Data Processing 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 transaction of $144,832.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,218,112.80. This represents a 6.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,027,233.98. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 5,951 shares of company stock worth $1,762,074. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.
Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance
ADP traded up $3.57 during trading on Monday, hitting $298.89. 1,709,089 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,460,980. 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 1-year low of $231.27 and a 1-year high of $322.84. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $303.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $295.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $121.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.17, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76.
Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.
Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.06%. Automatic Data Processing's payout ratio is 64.23%.
About Automatic Data Processing
(
Free Report)
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.
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