Gradient Investments LLC Purchases 4,966 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Gradient Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 4.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 120,949 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 4,966 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC's holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $30,206,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Evolution Advisers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 106.0% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 173 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ADP shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $267.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $253.00 to $251.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $254.00 to $250.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $255.42.

Insider Activity

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.01, for a total transaction of $90,899.68. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,319 shares in the company, valued at $5,018,996.19. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, VP Joseph Desilva sold 1,904 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total transaction of $485,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 17,179 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,380,645. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.01, for a total value of $90,899.68. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,319 shares in the company, valued at $5,018,996.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 3,829 shares of company stock worth $965,274. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ADP traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $241.89. 1,491,532 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,451,137. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.78. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $245.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $239.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $205.53 and a 52 week high of $256.84.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.79 by $0.09. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.56% and a return on equity of 93.09%. The company had revenue of $5.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.52 earnings per share. Automatic Data Processing's quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.15 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.32%. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio is presently 62.50%.

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.

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