Bailard Inc. Grows Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Bailard Inc. raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 23.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,620 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,658 shares during the period. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $2,008,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Heritage Investment Group Inc. boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Heritage Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,201 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $513,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. now owns 8,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,065,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 0.5% in the third quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 8,292 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,995,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,151 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $999,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 4,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,067,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ADP shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Mizuho upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Wolfe Research raised Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $254.58.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

ADP traded down $0.52 on Friday, reaching $245.82. The stock had a trading volume of 303,803 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,777,971. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $246.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $239.31. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $205.53 and a 12-month high of $256.84. The company has a market cap of $100.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.14% and a return on equity of 95.22%. The business had revenue of $4.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.96 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is presently 65.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Joseph Desilva sold 1,904 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total value of $485,520.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 17,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,380,645. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Joseph Desilva sold 1,904 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total transaction of $485,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 17,179 shares in the company, valued at $4,380,645. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $215,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 8,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,071,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,162 shares of company stock worth $3,741,859 in the last ninety days. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.