Palisade Asset Management LLC Purchases 1,053 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Palisade Asset Management LLC raised its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 67,449 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,053 shares during the quarter. Automatic Data Processing makes up approximately 1.7% of Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $15,714,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Evolution Advisers Inc. purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 106.0% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 173 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ADP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $253.00 to $251.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $254.00 to $250.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Bank of America upgraded Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $217.00 to $243.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $255.42.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ADP traded down $2.18 on Wednesday, reaching $242.94. 1,126,004 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,769,246. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market cap of $99.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.78. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $205.53 and a 52 week high of $256.84. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $245.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $238.95.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.79 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $5.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.56% and a return on equity of 93.09%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.52 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.15 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,319 shares in the company, valued at $5,018,996.19. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Joseph Desilva sold 1,904 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total value of $485,520.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,380,645. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.01, for a total transaction of $90,899.68. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly 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 company insiders.

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.