Graypoint LLC Has $1.90 Million Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Graypoint LLC grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,903,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,334,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,098,541,000 after acquiring an additional 424,328 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,517,642 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,906,257,000 after acquiring an additional 286,080 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 12.0% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,065,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $964,989,000 after acquiring an additional 435,093 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.1% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,548,165 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $846,912,000 after acquiring an additional 139,561 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.3% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,238,526 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $896,197,000 after acquiring an additional 41,709 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $286.85 on Friday. 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 moving average of $298.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $278.12. The company has a market capitalization of $116.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.12. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. The company had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This is an increase from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. TD Cowen increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Two analysts have 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 MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $289.91.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $11,692,500.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 32,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,781,200. The trade was a 54.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 41,062 shares of company stock worth $12,299,550. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.