Baron Wealth Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Baron Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 10.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 966 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 92 shares during the quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $283,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter valued at $209,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 280,961 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $77,750,000 after acquiring an additional 15,340 shares during the period. RIA Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter worth about $470,000. Dash Acquisitions Inc. grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 5.6% in the third quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. now owns 52,329 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,069,000 after purchasing an additional 2,781 shares during the period. Finally, DRW Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter valued at approximately $951,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

ADP stock opened at $300.57 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $122.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $231.27 and a 1 year high of $311.67. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $297.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $283.65.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 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, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group increased 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. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $289.91.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total value of $210,236.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,856 shares in the company, valued at $20,077,721.04. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $11,692,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at $9,781,200. This trade represents a 54.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 42,129 shares of company stock worth $12,604,872. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.