6,495 Shares in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Purchased by Duality Advisers LP

Duality Advisers LP bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 6,495 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,513,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. MCF Advisors LLC increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 2,781 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $652,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 23.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,847 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $430,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares in the last quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter worth approximately $263,000. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $340,000. Finally, Heritage Investment Group Inc. lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Heritage Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,201 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $513,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Mizuho raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Bank of America upgraded Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $217.00 to $243.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $267.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $254.58.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ADP opened at $246.31 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $247.15 and a 200 day moving average of $239.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $201.46 and a twelve month high of $256.84. The firm has a market cap of $101.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.67, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.78.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.14% and a return on equity of 95.22%. The firm had revenue of $4.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.96 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.19%.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $215,750.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,071,250. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.01, for a total value of $90,899.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,018,996.19. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $215,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 8,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,071,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,162 shares of company stock worth $3,741,859 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.