Xponance Inc. Purchases 1,496 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Xponance Inc. increased its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 90,076 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,496 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $20,985,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 19.3% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 134,223 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $30,532,000 after buying an additional 21,671 shares during the period. Dakota Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the first quarter worth $571,000. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 12.4% during the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 453 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $103,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 82.8% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 636 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $145,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 4.4% during the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,902 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $660,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $215,750.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,071,250. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, VP Joseph Desilva sold 1,904 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total transaction of $485,520.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,380,645. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $215,750.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 8,285 shares in the company, valued at $2,071,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 15,162 shares of company stock valued at $3,741,859. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ADP traded down $0.91 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $241.99. The stock had a trading volume of 1,411,444 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,807,853. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a 50 day moving average of $247.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $239.18. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $201.46 and a twelve month high of $256.84. The firm has a market cap of $99.41 billion, a PE ratio of 28.28, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.78.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $4.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.96 EPS. Research 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on ADP. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $267.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, February 1st. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $217.00 to $243.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Two 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $254.58.

About Automatic Data Processing

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.