Raymond James & Associates Increases Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 3.0% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 946,571 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,510 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $236,397,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth approximately $308,321,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 22,539.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 934,326 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $217,670,000 after purchasing an additional 930,199 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 40.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,128,701 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $752,703,000 after purchasing an additional 905,043 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,543,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $825,487,000 after purchasing an additional 649,791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 65.5% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,402,511 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $337,416,000 after purchasing an additional 555,184 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

NASDAQ ADP traded down $3.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $243.07. 1,555,489 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,384,926. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $205.53 and a 1 year high of $256.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The business’s 50 day moving average is $246.70 and its 200-day moving average is $239.26. The company has a market capitalization of $99.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.78.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 95.22% and a net margin of 19.14%. The firm had revenue of $4.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.96 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Mizuho raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $267.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $217.00 to $243.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $254.58.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Don Mcguire sold 11,333 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $2,776,585.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 19,906 shares in the company, valued at $4,876,970. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Don Mcguire sold 11,333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $2,776,585.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 19,906 shares in the company, valued at $4,876,970. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.01, for a total transaction of $90,899.68. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,319 shares in the company, valued at $5,018,996.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,162 shares of company stock valued at $3,741,859 in the last three months. 0.26% of the stock is currently 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.