LM Advisors LLC Purchases New Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

LM Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 3,334 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $981,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AMG National Trust Bank boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 11,334 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,318,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Sentinus LLC increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Sentinus LLC now owns 1,548 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $453,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,009 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,466,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 3,686 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,079,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gilbert & Cook Inc. boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 1,842 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $539,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the business'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 transaction, the vice president now owns 12,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,686,852.74. The trade was a 11.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher D'ambrosio sold 473 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total transaction of $144,832.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,244 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,218,112.80. The trade was a 6.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,451 shares of company stock valued at $743,024 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ADP traded up $1.10 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $325.22. The stock had a trading volume of 2,924,935 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,706,550. The stock has a market capitalization of $132.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.91, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $231.27 and a 1-year high of $327.99. 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 firm's fifty day simple moving average is $303.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $301.62.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.09. The company 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 firm's revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.88 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Securities upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. UBS Group increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $305.64.

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.