Lincoln National Corp Purchases 895 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Lincoln National Corp boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 9.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,709 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 895 shares during the period. Lincoln National Corp’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $2,495,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ADP. Fielder Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at about $557,000. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 32,198 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $7,501,000 after buying an additional 343 shares during the period. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,770,000. Summit Trail Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Summit Trail Advisors LLC now owns 4,420 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,036,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Finally, Spire Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 650.5% in the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 26,785 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,381,000 after acquiring an additional 23,216 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.01, for a total transaction of $90,899.68. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 20,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,018,996.19. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Joseph Desilva sold 1,904 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total transaction of $485,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,380,645. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.01, for a total value of $90,899.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,319 shares in the company, valued at $5,018,996.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,966 shares of company stock worth $749,524 over the last quarter. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ADP has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Barclays upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Mizuho raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $254.00 to $250.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $255.42.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of ADP traded up $2.38 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $245.12. The company had a trading volume of 1,202,179 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,781,435. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $205.53 and a 52-week high of $256.84. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $245.41 and a 200-day moving average price of $238.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.79 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $5.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.56% and a return on equity of 93.09%. The business’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.52 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 62.50%.

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.