FourThought Financial Partners LLC Invests $1.51 Million in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

FourThought Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 5,140 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,505,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC now owns 5,103 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,494,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Mengis Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,173 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,978,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. BankPlus Trust Department acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,709,000. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 4,514 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,322,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 24.1% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 15,456 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,524,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Automatic Data Processing news, 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 transaction of $305,322.05. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,756,961. The trade was a 14.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total value of $210,236.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,077,721.04. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,478 shares of company stock valued at $1,617,241 over the last ninety days. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of ADP stock opened at $312.20 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $127.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.55, a PEG 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. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $299.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $290.89. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $231.27 and a twelve month high of $314.06.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ADP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, January 30th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $293.55.

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.