Allstate Corp Invests $3.54 Million in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Allstate Corp bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 12,093 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,540,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 121.8% during the 4th quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 1.5 %

ADP opened at $300.83 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $122.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.37, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $303.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $296.20. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $231.27 and a twelve month high of $322.84.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is 64.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total value of $210,236.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 68,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,077,721.04. This trade represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at $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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,951 shares of company stock worth $1,762,074. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ADP shares. UBS Group upped 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 report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $302.30.

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.