1,474 Shares in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Acquired by Howe & Rusling Inc.

Howe & Rusling Inc. purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 1,474 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $431,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. NEOS Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 23.2% during the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 49,542 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $14,502,000 after buying an additional 9,316 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 56.5% during the 4th quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 150,252 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $43,983,000 after acquiring an additional 54,256 shares during the last quarter. Moment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at $1,030,000. Tyler Stone Wealth Management raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 123.1% in the 4th quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 2,218 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $649,000 after purchasing an additional 1,224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Banco BTG Pactual S.A. acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter worth $461,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target 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. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $302.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. The trade was a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 68,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,077,721.04. This trade represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,951 shares of company stock valued at $1,762,074 in the last 90 days. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of ADP stock opened at $305.43 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $303.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $296.02. The stock has a market cap of $124.45 billion, a PE ratio of 31.85, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $231.27 and a 52-week high of $322.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, topping 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, analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is 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.