Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Shares Purchased by Fidelis Capital Partners LLC

Fidelis Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 101.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,266 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,651 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,227,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 7.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,010,014 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,629,852,000 after buying an additional 794,328 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,670,083 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,085,849,000 after purchasing an additional 198,008 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 94,265.5% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,770,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,617,256,000 after purchasing an additional 6,763,553 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,902,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,420,028,000 after purchasing an additional 288,234 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,242,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,261,327,000 after purchasing an additional 77,187 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ADP shares. Mizuho raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Wolfe Research upgraded Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $254.58.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 0.4 %

ADP stock traded down $0.91 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $241.99. 1,454,207 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,819,155. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $201.46 and a 12-month high of $256.84. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $247.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $239.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.78.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 95.22% and a net margin of 19.14%. The company had revenue of $4.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.96 EPS. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.14 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Don Mcguire sold 11,333 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $2,776,585.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 19,906 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,876,970. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $215,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,071,250. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Don Mcguire sold 11,333 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $2,776,585.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 19,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,876,970. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,162 shares of company stock worth $3,741,859 in the last three months. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.