Alesco Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Alesco Advisors LLC raised its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 12.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,403 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. Alesco Advisors LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $327,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 10,832.1% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 3,061 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $736,000 after purchasing an additional 3,033 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 18.0% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 3,835 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $923,000 after purchasing an additional 584 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 283.6% in the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 17,892 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,304,000 after purchasing an additional 13,228 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter valued at about $220,000. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter valued at about $874,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ADP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $217.00 to $243.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $267.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $254.58.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $215,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,285 shares in the company, valued at $2,071,250. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, VP Don Mcguire sold 11,333 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $2,776,585.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 19,906 shares in the company, valued at $4,876,970. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $215,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,071,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,162 shares of company stock worth $3,741,859 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP traded down $3.27 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $243.07. The stock had a trading volume of 1,555,277 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,793,701. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $246.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $239.26. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $205.53 and a 1-year high of $256.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.30, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.14% and a return on equity of 95.22%. The company had revenue of $4.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.96 earnings per share. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.19%.

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.