Lynch & Associates IN Purchases New Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Lynch & Associates IN acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 702 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter worth $26,000. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 78.5% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter worth about $35,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of ADP traded down $5.04 on Friday, reaching $286.85. 2,292,401 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,469,012. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $231.27 and a 12 month high of $309.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $116.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $298.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $277.85.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. The company had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.08 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. This is a boost from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ADP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com upgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.91.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $11,692,500.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 32,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,781,200. The trade was a 54.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the company’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. The trade was a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,062 shares of company stock valued at $12,299,550 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.