LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 744 Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 744 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $217,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Virtu Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 202.7% in the 3rd quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 4,870 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,348,000 after acquiring an additional 3,261 shares during the period. Tudor Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter valued at about $310,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 7.0% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 15,384 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,257,000 after purchasing an additional 1,001 shares during the period. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 9,935 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,753,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,466 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,066,000 after purchasing an additional 1,378 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ADP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays raised their price objective 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 $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $302.30.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

ADP stock opened at $301.56 on Tuesday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $231.27 and a 1 year high of $322.84. The firm has a market cap of $122.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.45, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.74. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $302.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $297.93. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.23%.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total value of $704,869.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $929,007.90. This trade represents a 43.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total value of $458,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,686,852.74. This trade represents a 11.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,775 shares of company stock worth $1,447,893 over the last quarter. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.