Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 81,665 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 5,138 shares during the quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC's holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $23,906,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at $455,993,000. Winslow Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at about $396,714,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 26.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,136,763 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,796,415,000 after buying an additional 1,299,390 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth about $342,942,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 41,710.7% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,090,422 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $319,199,000 after acquiring an additional 1,087,814 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ADP shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $303.55.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total transaction of $704,869.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,063 shares in the company, valued at $929,007.90. The trade was a 43.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total transaction of $458,070.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 12,073 shares in the company, valued at $3,686,852.74. The trade was a 11.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,775 shares of company stock valued at $1,447,893. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of ADP traded up $4.88 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $303.57. 1,720,848 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,687,165. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $231.27 and a 52-week high of $322.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $298.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $298.69. The firm has a market cap of $123.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last released its 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 the consensus estimate of $5.49 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. Automatic Data Processing's revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.88 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.05%.

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.