Cetera Investment Advisers Buys 13,697 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 8.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 174,318 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 13,697 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers' holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $51,028,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at $708,000. Bath Savings Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 99,299 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $29,068,000 after buying an additional 1,951 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 529,690 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $146,581,000 after acquiring an additional 22,766 shares during the last quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 121.7% in the 4th quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 12,898 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,776,000 after acquiring an additional 7,080 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 67.9% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 6,292 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,805,000 after acquiring an additional 2,545 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ADP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Securities lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $296.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays increased their target price 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $303.55.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Automatic Data Processing stock traded down $1.75 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $305.98. 470,837 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,847,696. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $231.27 and a 12 month high of $322.84. The firm has a market cap of $124.20 billion, a PE ratio of 31.90, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $297.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $299.31.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $5.55 billion for 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%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.88 EPS. As a group, equities research 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Christopher D'ambrosio sold 478 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.14, for a total transaction of $140,120.92. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,364 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,158,682.96. This trade represents a 6.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total value 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. The trade was a 11.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 2,451 shares of company stock valued at $743,024. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company 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.