Independent Advisor Alliance Acquires 577 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 13,354 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 577 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $3,909,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 6.5% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,437 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $951,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 104.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 994 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $275,000 after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 36,470 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,092,000 after purchasing an additional 3,795 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter valued at about $221,000. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,245,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a 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. 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 research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.18.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 3.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP opened at $292.44 on Wednesday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $231.27 and a 52-week high of $322.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.49, 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $302.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $294.33.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $929,007.90. The trade was a 43.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.15, for a total value of $305,322.05. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 6,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,756,961. The trade was a 14.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 5,478 shares of company stock valued at $1,617,241. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.