Heritage Financial Services LLC Raises Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Heritage Financial Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 13.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 847 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Heritage Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $248,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth about $209,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 5.8% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 280,961 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $77,750,000 after purchasing an additional 15,340 shares during the last quarter. RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter valued at approximately $470,000. Dash Acquisitions Inc. increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 5.6% in the third quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. now owns 52,329 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,069,000 after purchasing an additional 2,781 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DRW Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $951,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of ADP stock opened at $303.26 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $297.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $283.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market cap of $123.57 billion, a PE ratio of 31.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $231.27 and a 1 year high of $311.67.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 81.85% and a net margin of 19.76%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on ADP. Barclays raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $291.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at $4,027,233.98. The trade was a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total transaction of $210,236.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,856 shares in the company, valued at $20,077,721.04. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 42,129 shares of company stock worth $12,604,872 in the last ninety days. 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.