Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Acquires 175 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 8.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,248 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $658,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 3,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $929,007.90. The trade was a 43.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. The trade was a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,478 shares of company stock valued at $1,617,241 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on ADP. Barclays boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.18.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP opened at $310.43 on Thursday. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $231.27 and a 1-year high of $322.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $126.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $301.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $293.19.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. Equities analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. 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.