Sanders Morris Harris LLC Increases Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Sanders Morris Harris LLC lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 8.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,450 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Sanders Morris Harris LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $612,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of ADP. Running Oak Capital LLC raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 85.6% in the first quarter. Running Oak Capital LLC now owns 42,549 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $10,626,000 after buying an additional 19,621 shares during the period. MJP Associates Inc. ADV raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 7.1% in the first quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 1,697 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $424,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the period. Hummer Financial Advisory Services Inc raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 3.0% in the first quarter. Hummer Financial Advisory Services Inc now owns 5,100 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,281,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Rockland Trust Co. raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 1.2% in the first quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 123,491 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $30,841,000 after buying an additional 1,491 shares during the period. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 119.3% in the first quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 329 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $82,000 after buying an additional 179 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price 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. Barclays boosted their target price 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. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $253.00 to $251.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $255.42.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of ADP traded up $1.91 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $247.97. 3,022,851 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,362,978. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $205.53 and a 1-year high of $256.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.49 billion, a PE ratio of 27.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $245.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $243.48.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is currently 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.