Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Shares Acquired by Cetera Investment Advisers

Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 323.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 154,319 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 117,881 shares during the quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $38,539,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Atria Investments Inc lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 13.0% during the first quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 53,422 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,328,000 after purchasing an additional 6,155 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 1st quarter worth about $59,387,000. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 14,380 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,591,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 1st quarter valued at about $287,000. Finally, Independent Wealth Network Inc. purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the first quarter worth about $204,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ADP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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 report on Thursday, May 2nd. Bank of America increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $259.64.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP traded up $2.22 during trading on Friday, hitting $263.52. 2,310,606 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,644,141. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $245.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $245.77. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $205.53 and a 12-month high of $269.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.41, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.78.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.54% and a return on equity of 89.20%. The firm had revenue of $4.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. Automatic Data Processing’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 10.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.