Forum Financial Management LP Raises Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Forum Financial Management LP grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 11.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,755 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,392,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth $708,000. Bath Savings Trust Co boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 99,299 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,068,000 after acquiring an additional 1,951 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 529,690 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $146,581,000 after buying an additional 22,766 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 8.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 667,068 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $194,117,000 after acquiring an additional 51,828 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 121.7% in the 4th quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 12,898 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,776,000 after buying an additional 7,080 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on ADP. Barclays raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group increased their price target 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. Jefferies Financial Group lifted 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, StockNews.com cut shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $302.30.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ:ADP opened at $293.28 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $231.27 and a 1 year high of $322.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.58, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $301.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $298.11.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is currently 64.23%.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 478 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.14, for a total transaction of $140,120.92. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 7,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,158,682.96. The trade was a 6.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total value of $704,869.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 3,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $929,007.90. This represents a 43.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,775 shares of company stock valued at $1,447,893 over the last quarter. 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.