Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 11.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 868 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 87 shares during the quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $255,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 1,054 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $292,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 2.1% during the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $482,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% during the third quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,902,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Riversedge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 916 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Austin Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.4% in the third quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 923 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $255,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ADP opened at $296.18 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $120.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.61, a PEG ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50 day moving average of $297.90 and a 200 day moving average of $279.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $231.27 and a 1-year high of $309.63.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.12. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. The firm had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.08 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 65.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on ADP. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Mizuho boosted 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. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $289.91.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $11,692,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,781,200. This trade represents a 54.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 42,129 shares of company stock worth $12,604,872 over the last three months. 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.