Oakworth Capital Inc. Raises Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Oakworth Capital Inc. grew its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 96.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,967 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,439 shares during the quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,157,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

ADP traded down $1.49 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $242.72. 517,130 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,815,581. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $201.46 and a fifty-two week high of $256.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $247.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $239.16. The company has a market capitalization of $99.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.43, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.78.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.14% and a return on equity of 95.22%. The company had revenue of $4.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.96 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is currently 65.19%.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Joseph Desilva sold 1,904 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total value of $485,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 17,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,380,645. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, VP Joseph Desilva sold 1,904 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total transaction of $485,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 17,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,380,645. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $215,750.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,071,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,162 shares of company stock worth $3,741,859. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ADP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America raised shares of Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $217.00 to $243.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Wolfe Research raised shares of Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $254.58.

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.