Insight Wealth Strategies LLC Takes Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Insight Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 15,997 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,683,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $292,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its stake in 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 worth $482,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% in the third quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,902,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% in the second quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 5,698 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,360,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Austin Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 923 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $289.91.

Insider Activity

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 $4,027,233.98. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $11,692,500.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,781,200. This represents a 54.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Automatic Data Processing stock traded down $4.27 during trading on Monday, hitting $287.42. The stock had a trading volume of 703,314 shares, compared to its average volume of 913,665. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $298.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $277.08. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $231.27 and a 1 year high of $309.63. The stock has a market cap of $117.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. The firm had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.08 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $1.54 dividend. This is an increase from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.74%.

Automatic Data Processing 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.