Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd Acquires Shares of 708 Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 708 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 92.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 10,026 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,935,000 after acquiring an additional 4,808 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at about $957,000. Wealth Alliance increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Alliance now owns 2,974 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $870,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Advyzon Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $238,000. Finally, Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 45.4% in the 4th quarter. Nicholson Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 5,449 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,595,000 after buying an additional 1,701 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of ADP opened at $306.26 on Friday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $231.27 and a fifty-two week high of $329.93. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $309.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $302.94. The stock has a market cap of $124.32 billion, a PE ratio of 31.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $5.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.49 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 77.33% and a net margin of 19.79%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.88 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.05%.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total transaction of $458,070.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,686,852.74. This trade represents a 11.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 478 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.14, for a total value of $140,120.92. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,364 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ADP. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $321.00 to $332.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. UBS Group dropped their target price 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, June 13th. Finally, TD Securities lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $307.08.

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.