IMS Capital Management Raises Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

IMS Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 58 shares during the quarter. Automatic Data Processing comprises 1.3% of IMS Capital Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. IMS Capital Management’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $2,757,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 163,834 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $48,524,000 after purchasing an additional 1,547 shares during the period. Avestar Capital LLC boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 2,543 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $748,000 after buying an additional 363 shares during the period. MGB Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. MGB Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,573 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,046,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 1,738 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $508,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ingalls & Snyder LLC raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 16,280 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,766,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,027,233.98. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.15, for a total value of $305,322.05. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 6,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,756,961. This represents a 14.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,478 shares of company stock worth $1,617,241. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ADP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $293.55.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $310.22 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $297.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $287.85. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $231.27 and a twelve month high of $311.67. The company has a market capitalization of $126.40 billion, a PE ratio of 32.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. Research analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.23%.

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.