HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Acquires 510 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,010 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $4,279,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC boosted 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 buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $300.83 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $303.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $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. The company has a market cap of $122.58 billion, a PE ratio of 31.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $231.27 and a twelve month high of $322.84.

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

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on ADP shares. Barclays increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of 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, StockNews.com cut shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $302.30.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP David Foskett sold 1,004 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.29, for a total transaction of $290,447.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,958 shares in the company, valued at $1,723,589.82. The trade was a 14.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total value of $106,366.46. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. The trade was a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,951 shares of company stock worth $1,762,074 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.