Founders Financial Alliance LLC Boosts Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Founders Financial Alliance LLC lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 8.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,648 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $503,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 92.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 10,026 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,935,000 after buying an additional 4,808 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at about $957,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,268,211 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $371,243,000 after buying an additional 7,082 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 158.1% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 11,310 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,311,000 after buying an additional 6,928 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 4,016 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,176,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ ADP opened at $305.81 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $123.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.64, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $258.63 and a 52-week high of $329.93. The business’s 50 day moving average is $308.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $305.41.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.23 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $5.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.05 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.84% and a return on equity of 72.84%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 61.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $321.00 to $332.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Automatic Data Processing to a “hold” rating and set a $340.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $323.00 to $315.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $305.00 to $318.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $314.33.

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.