Benjamin Edwards Inc. Buys 5,594 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 202,516 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,594 shares during the quarter. Automatic Data Processing comprises 0.8% of Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $59,299,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ADP. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 121.8% during the fourth quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 1.6 %

ADP opened at $303.57 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $298.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $298.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $123.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $231.27 and a 12 month high of $322.84.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $5.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.49 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.88 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.05%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total value of $704,869.20. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 3,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $929,007.90. The trade was a 43.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total value of $144,832.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,218,112.80. This trade represents a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,775 shares of company stock worth $1,447,893 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ADP has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $303.55.

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.