Rafferty Asset Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 81,766 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 5,111 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $23,935,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Grassi Investment Management bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at $227,000. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,518 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $737,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,211 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,525,000 after purchasing an additional 718 shares in the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 16,677 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,882,000 after purchasing an additional 1,231 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Burney Co. increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 25.8% during the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 11,605 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,397,000 after purchasing an additional 2,377 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on ADP shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $303.55.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $3,686,852.74. This represents a 11.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Christopher D'ambrosio sold 478 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.14, for a total transaction of $140,120.92. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,158,682.96. This trade represents a 6.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,451 shares of company stock worth $743,024. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

ADP traded up $3.59 during trading on Monday, hitting $322.96. 1,530,399 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,698,069. The firm has a market cap of $131.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. The stock's fifty day moving average is $298.29 and its 200 day moving average is $300.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $231.27 and a one year high of $328.08.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $5.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.49 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.88 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS 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 dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a 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.