Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,141 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 305 shares during the quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $4,725,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ADP. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on ADP. StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total value of $704,869.20. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 3,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $929,007.90. This trade represents a 43.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.15, for a total transaction of $305,322.05. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 6,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,756,961. This represents a 14.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,478 shares of company stock valued at $1,617,241. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $306.45 on Friday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $231.27 and a 1 year high of $322.84. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $302.08 and its 200 day moving average is $293.55. The stock has a market cap of $124.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.96, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is 64.23%.

Automatic Data Processing 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.