FourThought Financial Partners LLC Takes $1.51 Million Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

FourThought Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 5,140 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,505,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ADP. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 6.3% during the third quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 47,375 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,110,000 after acquiring an additional 2,810 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 3.5% in the third quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 6,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,682,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the period. Salomon & Ludwin LLC boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 23.4% during the third quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 264 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,227 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $340,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. Finally, Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 4,675 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,294,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ADP. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target 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. Two 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $293.55.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ADP opened at $312.20 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $127.21 billion, a PE ratio of 32.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $231.27 and a 52-week high of $314.06. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $299.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $290.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. Analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total value of $704,869.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,063 shares in the company, valued at $929,007.90. This trade represents a 43.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total transaction of $210,236.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,077,721.04. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,478 shares of company stock valued at $1,617,241 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.