World Investment Advisors Increases Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

World Investment Advisors boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 16.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 8,730 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,264 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $2,555,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westpac Banking Corp raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 28,014 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,201,000 after purchasing an additional 1,802 shares during the period. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,783 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $511,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the period. Disciplined Investors L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth $319,000. OneAscent Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter worth $576,000. Finally, May Hill Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at $207,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total value of $144,832.60. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 7,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,218,112.80. This trade represents a 6.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP David Foskett sold 1,004 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.29, for a total transaction of $290,447.16. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,723,589.82. This trade represents a 14.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 6,368 shares of company stock valued at $1,903,541 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ADP has been the subject of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of 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 assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $302.30.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 6.3 %

Shares of ADP opened at $286.13 on Friday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $231.27 and a fifty-two week high of $322.84. The firm has a market cap of $116.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.84, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $304.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $297.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, equities research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 64.23%.

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.