Bailard Inc. Buys 1,658 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Bailard Inc. raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 23.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 8,620 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,658 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $2,008,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 2.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,670,083 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,085,849,000 after purchasing an additional 198,008 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,902,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,420,028,000 after acquiring an additional 288,234 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,242,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,261,327,000 after acquiring an additional 77,187 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,576,575 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $855,287,000 after acquiring an additional 553,946 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 40.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,128,701 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $752,703,000 after acquiring an additional 905,043 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $215,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,071,250. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 20,319 shares in the company, valued at $5,018,996.19. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $215,750.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,071,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,162 shares of company stock valued at $3,741,859 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Mizuho lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Bank of America raised Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $217.00 to $243.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Wolfe Research raised Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $254.58.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of ADP traded down $0.52 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $245.82. The company had a trading volume of 303,803 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,777,971. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $246.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $239.31. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $205.53 and a 52-week high of $256.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.68, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

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

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.19%.

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.