Evolution Advisers Inc. Takes Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Evolution Advisers Inc. acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 176 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $41,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 106.0% during the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 173 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Bfsg LLC acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Carmel Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 43.4% during the third quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC now owns 228 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $55,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Wolfe Research upgraded Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $217.00 to $243.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $254.58.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 0.1 %

ADP stock traded down $0.27 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $246.34. 1,224,474 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,796,831. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $246.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $239.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.19 billion, a PE ratio of 28.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.78. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $201.46 and a 1-year high of $256.84.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 95.22% and a net margin of 19.14%. The business had revenue of $4.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.96 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.27%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.19%.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Joseph Desilva sold 1,904 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total value of $485,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 17,179 shares in the company, valued at $4,380,645. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, VP Joseph Desilva sold 1,904 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total value of $485,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 17,179 shares in the company, valued at $4,380,645. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.01, for a total value of $90,899.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,018,996.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 15,162 shares of company stock worth $3,741,859. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.