Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Stake Raised by Treasurer of the State of North Carolina

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 23.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 228,476 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 43,670 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $66,882,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,830,000. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter valued at $226,000. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 13.1% during the third quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,299 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,043,000 after acquiring an additional 843 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 214,797 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $59,441,000 after acquiring an additional 4,061 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hohimer Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 1.2% in the third quarter. Hohimer Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,275 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,674,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total transaction of $704,869.20. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $929,007.90. This represents a 43.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total value of $144,832.60. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,244 shares in the company, valued at $2,218,112.80. This trade represents a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 5,364 shares of company stock valued at $1,613,094. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on ADP. Barclays upped 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. UBS Group upped 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 note on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $302.30.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

ADP stock opened at $294.69 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $120.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.74. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $302.79 and its 200 day moving average is $297.29. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $231.27 and a 52 week high of $322.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.23%.

About Automatic Data Processing

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.