Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. Buys Shares of 127 Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 127 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $37,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 1,054 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.1% during the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $482,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Aspiriant LLC boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 2,372 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $694,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,466,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Petredis Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,902,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ADP. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $293.55.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

ADP stock opened at $305.78 on Wednesday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $231.27 and a one year high of $311.67. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $297.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $287.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.59 billion, a PE ratio of 31.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.23%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total transaction of $704,869.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 3,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $929,007.90. This trade represents a 43.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 in the company, valued at $4,027,233.98. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,478 shares of company stock worth $1,617,241. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Company 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.