Wedbush Securities Inc. Acquires 667 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Wedbush Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 10.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,275 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 667 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $2,130,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $455,993,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at $342,942,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 41,710.7% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,090,422 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $319,199,000 after purchasing an additional 1,087,814 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 3,120,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $910,972,000 after purchasing an additional 449,431 shares during the period. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1,029.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 420,257 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $132,429,000 after purchasing an additional 383,057 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP David Foskett sold 1,004 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.29, for a total value of $290,447.16. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,958 shares in the company, valued at $1,723,589.82. This trade represents a 14.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $929,007.90. This trade represents a 43.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 6,368 shares of company stock valued at $1,903,541 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ADP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $302.30.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 6.3 %

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $286.13 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $304.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $297.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $116.59 billion, a PE ratio of 29.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.74. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $231.27 and a 52-week high of $322.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is currently 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.