Freestone Grove Partners LP Invests $10.16 Million in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 34,711 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $10,161,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 121.8% during the 4th quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of ADP opened at $298.69 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $298.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $298.60. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $231.27 and a 12 month high of $322.84. The company has a market capitalization of $121.70 billion, a PE ratio of 31.15, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.09. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. The business had revenue of $5.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ADP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective 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. TD Securities boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $296.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $301.91.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total transaction of $144,832.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,218,112.80. This represents a 6.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total transaction of $704,869.20. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $929,007.90. This trade represents a 43.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,775 shares of company stock worth $1,447,893 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

About Automatic Data Processing

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.