Modern Wealth Management LLC Raises Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Modern Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 126.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,223 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,798 shares during the period. Modern Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $989,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ADP. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed 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. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price 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. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $302.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total value of $210,236.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 68,856 shares in the company, valued at $20,077,721.04. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,951 shares of company stock worth $1,762,074. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

NASDAQ:ADP opened at $302.41 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $303.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $295.96. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $231.27 and a 52 week high of $322.84. The stock has a market cap of $123.22 billion, a PE ratio of 31.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. As a group, analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.23%.

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.