Goldstone Financial Group LLC Has $389,000 Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Goldstone Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 43.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,272 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 386 shares during the quarter. Goldstone Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $389,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 34,655.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,901,007 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $886,345,000 after acquiring an additional 2,892,660 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at about $455,993,000. Winslow Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at about $396,714,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 26.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,136,763 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,796,415,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299,390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at about $342,942,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 0.9%

Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $306.82 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $308.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $302.88. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $231.27 and a fifty-two week high of $329.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.99, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.09. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. The business had revenue of $5.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.88 EPS. Automatic Data Processing’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th 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 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.05%.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total value of $458,070.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,686,852.74. The trade was a 11.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 478 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.14, for a total transaction of $140,120.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ADP shares. TD Securities raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $321.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $323.00 to $315.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $306.82.

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.