Elefante Mark B Buys Shares of 15,150 Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Elefante Mark B acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 15,150 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,435,000. Automatic Data Processing comprises about 4.0% of Elefante Mark B’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth about $708,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 529,690 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $146,581,000 after buying an additional 22,766 shares in the last quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 121.7% during the 4th quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 12,898 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,776,000 after buying an additional 7,080 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 67.9% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 6,292 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,805,000 after acquiring an additional 2,545 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 228,973 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $63,363,000 after purchasing an additional 2,203 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.6 %

ADP stock opened at $307.09 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a 50-day moving average of $297.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $299.06. 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 current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.09. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. The firm had revenue of $5.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.88 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is currently 63.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ADP. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. TD Securities raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $296.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group raised 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 report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $303.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total transaction of $458,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,686,852.74. This trade represents a 11.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,218,112.80. The trade was a 6.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,451 shares of company stock worth $743,024 in the last ninety days. 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.