Allianz SE Acquires Shares of 37,695 Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Allianz SE bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 37,695 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $11,044,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 23.8% during the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 6,976 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,930,000 after purchasing an additional 1,339 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 17,514 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,847,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 12,285 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,400,000 after buying an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 331.8% during the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 5,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,375,000 after acquiring an additional 3,872 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centric Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.1% in the third quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 10,872 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,318,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total value of $106,366.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. The trade was a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total transaction of $144,832.60. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,244 shares in the company, valued at $2,218,112.80. This represents a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,951 shares of company stock valued at $1,762,074 in the last 90 days. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 1.5 %

ADP opened at $300.83 on Friday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $231.27 and a 52 week high of $322.84. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $303.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $296.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a market cap of $122.58 billion, a PE ratio of 31.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.05%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 64.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.