2,396 Shares in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Purchased by Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC

Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 2,396 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $701,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Accredited Investors Inc. boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 4,431.5% during the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,315,295 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $640,712,000 after buying an additional 2,264,202 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 28,478.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,194,587 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,305,780,000 after acquiring an additional 1,190,407 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $160,920,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 332.3% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 623,341 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $172,497,000 after purchasing an additional 479,145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,334,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,098,541,000 after buying an additional 424,328 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $293.55.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.15, for a total value of $305,322.05. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 6,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,756,961. The trade was a 14.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total transaction of $210,236.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 68,856 shares in the company, valued at $20,077,721.04. This trade represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,478 shares of company stock valued at $1,617,241 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $309.89 on Wednesday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $231.27 and a 12-month high of $311.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company has a market capitalization of $126.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $297.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $289.42.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. On average, research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.23%.

Automatic Data Processing 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.