Xponance Inc. Raises Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 94,524 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,556 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $27,670,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. AMG National Trust Bank raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 11,334 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,318,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Aspiriant LLC increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 2,372 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $694,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,466,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Riversedge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 916 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $268,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Gilbert & Cook Inc. increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 1,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $539,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on ADP. Jefferies Financial Group boosted 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 note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, UBS Group increased 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 note on Tuesday, March 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total transaction of $704,869.20. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,063 shares in the company, valued at $929,007.90. The trade was a 43.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of Automatic Data Processing 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 sale, the vice president now owns 7,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,218,112.80. This represents a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 5,951 shares of company stock worth $1,762,074. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 1.7 %

ADP stock opened at $296.58 on Tuesday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $231.27 and a twelve month high of $322.84. 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 $120.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.93, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $302.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $294.90.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 64.23%.

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.