Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 214 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 24.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,082 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $332,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ADP. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 92.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 10,026 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,935,000 after buying an additional 4,808 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $128,000. Stephens Inc. AR grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 26,983 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,899,000 after buying an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 29,378 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,600,000 after buying an additional 1,992 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $394,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on ADP. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, TD Securities boosted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $305.64.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP opened at $318.57 on Tuesday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $231.27 and a 52-week high of $329.93. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $306.18 and a 200 day moving average of $302.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $129.31 billion, a PE ratio of 33.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00.

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

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.93%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 63.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total transaction of $458,070.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,073 shares in the company, valued at $3,686,852.74. This represents a 11.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 478 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.14, for a total transaction of $140,120.92. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 7,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,158,682.96. The trade was a 6.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.