Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Purchases Shares of 3,739 Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,739 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,095,000.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,731,270 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $11,923,265,000 after buying an additional 277,324 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,583,607 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,098,305,000 after acquiring an additional 65,965 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,174,419 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,807,438,000 after acquiring an additional 902,354 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 26.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,136,763 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,796,415,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,390 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,886,552 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,137,710,000 after purchasing an additional 219,032 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Christopher D'ambrosio sold 473 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total value of $144,832.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 7,244 shares in the company, valued at $2,218,112.80. This represents a 6.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,686,852.74. This trade represents a 11.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,451 shares of company stock worth $743,024. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ADP. UBS Group increased 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. TD Securities upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $296.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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. Barclays boosted 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 report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $303.55.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 0.0%

Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $322.80 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $131.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.66, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $231.27 and a 52-week high of $323.17. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $299.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $300.53.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $5.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.49 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. Automatic Data Processing's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.88 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.91%. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.

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