Financial Advisors Network Inc. Acquires 851 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Financial Advisors Network Inc. increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,142 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 851 shares during the period. Financial Advisors Network Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $3,528,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter worth $308,321,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 22,539.4% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 934,326 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $217,670,000 after buying an additional 930,199 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 40.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,128,701 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $752,703,000 after buying an additional 905,043 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 65.5% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,402,511 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $337,416,000 after purchasing an additional 555,184 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 18.3% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,576,575 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $855,287,000 after purchasing an additional 553,946 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.8 %

Automatic Data Processing stock traded up $2.01 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $254.15. 452,147 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,690,923. The company has a market cap of $104.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.78. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $205.53 and a twelve month high of $256.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The company has a fifty day moving average of $245.68 and a 200-day moving average of $240.81.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.52 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.16 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is currently 62.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ADP. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $253.00 to $251.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $254.00 to $250.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Two equities 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $255.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 694 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.43, for a total value of $173,104.42. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 20,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,159,958.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Joseph Desilva sold 1,904 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total value of $485,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 17,179 shares in the company, valued at $4,380,645. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 694 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.43, for a total transaction of $173,104.42. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,159,958.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 2,966 shares of company stock valued at $749,524. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.