Allianz SE Acquires Shares of 37,695 Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Allianz SE purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 37,695 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $11,044,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 23.8% in the 3rd quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 6,976 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,930,000 after purchasing an additional 1,339 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 12.9% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 17,514 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,847,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 12,285 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,400,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 331.8% during the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 5,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,375,000 after acquiring an additional 3,872 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centric Wealth Management raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 10,872 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,318,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of Automatic Data Processing 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 sale, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,027,233.98. The trade was a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total transaction of $144,832.60. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 7,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,218,112.80. The trade was a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,951 shares of company stock worth $1,762,074. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ADP shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note 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 research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One equities 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, Automatic Data Processing has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $302.30.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

ADP opened at $300.83 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $303.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $296.20. The company has a market capitalization of $122.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.37, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $231.27 and a 12-month high of $322.84.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.