NewEdge Advisors LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 195,169 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,909 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $57,131,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Virtu Financial LLC boosted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 3,261 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter worth approximately $310,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 worth $4,257,000 after buying an additional 1,001 shares in the last quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 3.5% during the third 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 buying an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 22.6% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,466 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,066,000 after acquiring an additional 1,378 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 478 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.14, for a total value of $140,120.92. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 7,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,158,682.96. This represents a 6.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were 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 $3,686,852.74. The trade was a 11.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,775 shares of company stock worth $1,447,893. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 1.2 %

ADP opened at $298.06 on Wednesday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $231.27 and a 1-year high of $322.84. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $302.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $297.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a market capitalization of $121.45 billion, a PE ratio of 31.08, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.74.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is 64.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on ADP. UBS Group increased their target price on 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 reaffirmed 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. Barclays boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $302.30.

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.