Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 11,919 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 490,671 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,919 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.12% of Automatic Data Processing worth $143,644,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,731,270 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $11,923,265,000 after buying an additional 277,324 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,583,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,098,305,000 after purchasing an additional 65,965 shares during the period. Amundi raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 3,120,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $910,972,000 after purchasing an additional 449,431 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,321,849 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $679,675,000 after purchasing an additional 69,042 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at about $455,993,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total value of $704,869.20. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 3,063 shares in the company, valued at $929,007.90. The trade was a 43.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total value of $144,832.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,244 shares in the company, valued at $2,218,112.80. This trade represents a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 6,368 shares of company stock valued at $1,903,541 over the last ninety days. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ADP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays lifted their price target 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. UBS Group raised 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 note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $302.30.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 6.3 %

NASDAQ:ADP opened at $286.13 on Friday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $231.27 and a one year high of $322.84. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $304.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $297.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $116.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

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, 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.15%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is presently 64.23%.

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.