Alesco Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Alesco Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 12.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,403 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the quarter. Alesco Advisors LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $327,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased 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 valued at $2,085,849,000 after acquiring an additional 198,008 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased 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 valued at $1,420,028,000 after acquiring an additional 288,234 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased 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 valued at $1,261,327,000 after acquiring an additional 77,187 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,576,575 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $855,287,000 after acquiring an additional 553,946 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 40.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,128,701 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $752,703,000 after acquiring an additional 905,043 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Bank of America raised Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $217.00 to $243.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, 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 research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $254.58.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Don Mcguire sold 11,333 shares of the business’s 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 completion of 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 SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.01, for a total transaction of $90,899.68. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,018,996.19. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Don Mcguire sold 11,333 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 19,906 shares in the company, valued at $4,876,970. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 15,162 shares of company stock worth $3,741,859. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock traded down $3.27 on Friday, hitting $243.07. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,555,277 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,793,701. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $205.53 and a 1 year high of $256.84. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $246.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $239.26. The company has a market capitalization of $99.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.78.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $4.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter 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. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid 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 2.30%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.19%.

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.