Waverly Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Waverly Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 84.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 12,001 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,496 shares during the quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $3,513,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ADP. Main Street Group LTD increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 50.7% during the fourth quarter. Main Street Group LTD now owns 113 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 121.8% during the fourth quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Banque de Luxembourg S.A. purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ADP shares. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. 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 report on Tuesday, March 4th. TD Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $305.64.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total transaction of $458,070.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,686,852.74. The trade was a 11.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now owns 7,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,218,112.80. The trade was a 6.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,451 shares of company stock worth $743,024. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

NASDAQ ADP opened at $322.63 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $300.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $300.69. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $231.27 and a 12-month high of $323.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $130.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.88 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is currently 63.05%.

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.