FineMark National Bank & Trust Buys 39 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

FineMark National Bank & Trust grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 986 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $289,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ADP. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter worth about $221,000. Avestar Capital LLC increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 2,180 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $603,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $995,000. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 8.6% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 55,611 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,389,000 after buying an additional 4,405 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 332.3% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 623,341 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $172,497,000 after buying an additional 479,145 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of ADP opened at $302.41 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $123.22 billion, a PE ratio of 31.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $303.59 and a 200-day moving average of $295.96. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $231.27 and a one year high of $322.84. 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 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, equities analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at $4,027,233.98. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total value of $144,832.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,218,112.80. This trade represents a 6.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,951 shares of company stock valued at $1,762,074 over the last ninety days. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on ADP shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective 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 restated 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. Barclays raised 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $302.30.

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.