William Allan Corp Increases Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

William Allan Corp raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,368 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. Automatic Data Processing accounts for approximately 3.8% of William Allan Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. William Allan Corp’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $6,255,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 53,637 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,701,000 after buying an additional 2,119 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,723,000. 1900 Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. 1900 Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,651 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $483,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 50.1% in the 4th quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp now owns 1,121 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $328,000 after buying an additional 374 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 30,364 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,888,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total transaction of $704,869.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $929,007.90. The trade was a 43.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total value of $106,366.46. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,478 shares of company stock worth $1,617,241. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ADP shares. Mizuho upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group raised 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Two equities 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $293.55.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of ADP stock opened at $308.97 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $125.89 billion, a PE ratio of 32.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $231.27 and a 52-week high of $311.67. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $297.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $285.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 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 analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is currently 64.23%.

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.