Alliancebernstein L.P. Increases Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,574,047 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,091 shares during the quarter. Automatic Data Processing accounts for approximately 0.8% of Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 1.86% of Automatic Data Processing worth $2,217,151,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 121.8% in the 4th quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

ADP stock opened at $300.83 on Monday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $231.27 and a 52 week high of $322.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $303.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $296.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,027,233.98. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,951 shares of company stock worth $1,762,074 over the last three months. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ADP. StockNews.com cut shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $302.30.

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.