Bleakley Financial Group LLC Purchases 863 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,771 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 863 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $3,674,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ADP. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the first quarter valued at $31,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ADP shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $217.00 to $243.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $254.58.

Insider Activity

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Don Mcguire sold 11,333 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $2,776,585.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 19,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,876,970. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, VP Don Mcguire sold 11,333 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $2,776,585.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 19,906 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,876,970. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.01, for a total value of $90,899.68. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 20,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,018,996.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 16,662 shares of company stock worth $4,094,554 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ ADP opened at $246.64 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $101.32 billion, a PE ratio of 28.71, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a fifty day moving average of $247.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $238.95. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $201.46 and a 52-week high of $256.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $4.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.65 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 95.22% and a net margin of 19.14%. The company’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.96 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.19%.

Automatic Data Processing 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.