Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI Raises Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI increased its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 14.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,243 shares during the period. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $2,822,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $293.55.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ ADP opened at $318.64 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $301.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $292.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $231.27 and a 12-month high of $320.50. The company has a market cap of $129.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. Research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given 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 dividend yield of 1.93%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is currently 64.23%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.15, for a total transaction of $305,322.05. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,140 shares in the company, valued at $1,756,961. This trade represents a 14.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total value of $106,366.46. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. The trade was a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 5,478 shares of company stock worth $1,617,241. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.