Liberty Wealth Management LLC Has $1.37 Million Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Liberty Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 49.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,684 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,553 shares during the period. Liberty Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,371,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ADP. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 6.5% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,437 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $951,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 104.5% during the third quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 994 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 11.6% in the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 36,470 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,092,000 after purchasing an additional 3,795 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter worth approximately $221,000. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter worth approximately $1,245,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 3.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP opened at $292.44 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $119.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.49, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $231.27 and a 12-month high of $322.84. The business’s 50 day moving average is $302.27 and its 200 day moving average is $294.33.

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

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total value of $210,236.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,856 shares in the company, valued at $20,077,721.04. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,478 shares of company stock valued at $1,617,241. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ADP. UBS Group lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.18.

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.