Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich Buys 75 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,152 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,800,000 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 the stock. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 22.9% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,618 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,278,000 after purchasing an additional 861 shares during the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 4.5% in the third quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 1,380 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $384,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 23,021 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,371,000 after buying an additional 3,313 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 127,582 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,306,000 after buying an additional 3,456 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GenWealth Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth about $201,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ADP opened at $305.78 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $124.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.79. The business’s 50 day moving average is $297.21 and its 200-day moving average is $287.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick 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 $311.67.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ADP shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $293.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total transaction of $210,236.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 68,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,077,721.04. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.15, for a total transaction of $305,322.05. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 6,140 shares in the company, valued at $1,756,961. The trade was a 14.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,478 shares of company stock worth $1,617,241 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.