Douglas Lane & Associates LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,775 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 329 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,691,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 21,259 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,074,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 0.6% during the second quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 204,890 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $48,905,000 after purchasing an additional 1,260 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 9.9% during the second quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 73,890 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $17,637,000 after purchasing an additional 6,637 shares during the period. MGO One Seven LLC increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 9.8% in the second quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 6,572 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,569,000 after buying an additional 584 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brasada Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 116.2% in the second quarter. Brasada Capital Management LP now owns 5,382 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,268,000 after buying an additional 2,893 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total transaction of $210,236.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 68,856 shares in the company, valued at $20,077,721.04. This trade represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 41,062 shares of company stock worth $12,299,550. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

NASDAQ ADP opened at $291.89 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $118.93 billion, a PE ratio of 31.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $231.27 and a 1-year high of $309.63. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $298.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $277.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. The firm had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.08 earnings per share. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $1.54 dividend. This is an increase from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.74%.

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.