XML Financial LLC Makes New Investment in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

XML Financial LLC bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 700 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 78.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, January 19th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ ADP opened at $295.80 on Friday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $231.27 and a twelve month high of $309.63. The stock has a market cap of $120.53 billion, a PE ratio of 31.57, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $297.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $281.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.77 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.08 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 65.74%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $11,692,500.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 32,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,781,200. The trade was a 54.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total value of $106,366.46. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,027,233.98. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 42,129 shares of company stock worth $12,604,872. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

About Automatic Data Processing

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.