Ritholtz Wealth Management Increases Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 19,446 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 552 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $5,692,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Carnegie Investment Counsel raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 55.9% during the 4th quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 10,336 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,026,000 after buying an additional 3,708 shares during the last quarter. Essex Savings Bank raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 43,853 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,837,000 after buying an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at $224,000. Sagace Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at $203,000. Finally, Websterrogers Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at $327,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ADP. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.91.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $11,692,500.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 32,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,781,200. This trade represents a 54.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 42,129 shares of company stock valued at $12,604,872 in the last ninety days. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ ADP opened at $296.23 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $298.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $279.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $120.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $231.27 and a 12-month high of $309.63.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.77 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. The business’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.08 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.74%.

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.