Alta Advisers Ltd Acquires 272 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Alta Advisers Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 24.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,372 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 272 shares during the period. Alta Advisers Ltd’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $402,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Virtu Financial LLC increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 202.7% in the third quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 4,870 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,348,000 after buying an additional 3,261 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $310,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 15,384 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,257,000 after acquiring an additional 1,001 shares in the last quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 9,935 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,753,000 after acquiring an additional 337 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 22.6% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,466 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,066,000 after purchasing an additional 1,378 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 2.9 %

Shares of ADP opened at $284.85 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $116.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.74. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $231.27 and a 1 year high of $322.84. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $300.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $298.30.

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

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.16%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $302.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 478 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.14, for a total transaction of $140,120.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,158,682.96. The trade was a 6.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total transaction of $704,869.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,063 shares in the company, valued at $929,007.90. This trade represents a 43.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 4,775 shares of company stock worth $1,447,893. Corporate 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.