Raymond James & Associates Purchases 27,510 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 3.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 946,571 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 27,510 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates owned approximately 0.23% of Automatic Data Processing worth $236,397,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 106.0% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 173 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evolution Advisers Inc. purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was 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 approximately $5,018,996.19. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.01, for a total value of $90,899.68. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,018,996.19. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Joseph Desilva sold 1,904 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total transaction of $485,520.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 17,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,380,645. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,162 shares of company stock valued at $3,741,859 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of ADP stock traded down $3.27 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $243.07. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,555,489 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,384,926. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $205.53 and a one year high of $256.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $246.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $239.26.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $4.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.65 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 95.22% and a net margin of 19.14%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.96 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.14 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. 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 is currently 65.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ADP. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Bank of America raised Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $217.00 to $243.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $254.58.

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.