Leelyn Smith LLC Purchases New Shares in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Leelyn Smith LLC acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 695 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,334,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,098,541,000 after acquiring an additional 424,328 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,517,642 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,906,257,000 after purchasing an additional 286,080 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.3% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,238,526 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $896,197,000 after purchasing an additional 41,709 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 3,120,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $910,972,000 after buying an additional 449,431 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,321,849 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $679,675,000 after buying an additional 69,042 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

ADP opened at $296.58 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $120.84 billion, a PE ratio of 30.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The business’s 50-day moving average is $302.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $294.90. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $231.27 and a 1 year high of $322.84.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. Research analysts anticipate 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 dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is presently 64.23%.

Insider Activity

In other Automatic Data Processing news, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief executive officer now 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 13,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,951 shares of company stock worth $1,762,074. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on ADP. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.18.

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.