First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Grows Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 12.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,007 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,651 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $3,496,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.3% during the third 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. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 5.1% during 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 buying an additional 288,234 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 77,187 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 18.3% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 40.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,128,701 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $752,703,000 after acquiring an additional 905,043 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP Don Mcguire sold 11,333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 19,906 shares in the company, valued at $4,876,970. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, VP Don Mcguire sold 11,333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 19,906 shares in the company, valued at $4,876,970. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now owns 8,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,071,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,162 shares of company stock worth $3,741,859 over the last quarter. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ADP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $267.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Bank of America raised Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $217.00 to $243.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $258.36.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

NASDAQ:ADP traded up $5.44 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $247.33. 2,782,113 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,799,652. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $246.29 and its 200-day moving average is $239.06. The stock has a market cap of $101.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $205.53 and a 1-year high of $256.84.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $4.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 95.22% and a net margin of 19.14%. Automatic Data Processing’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.96 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.19%.

About Automatic Data Processing

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.