K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc Takes $1.07 Million Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 4,597 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,071,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Evolution Advisers Inc. bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP traded down $3.27 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $243.07. 1,555,489 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,384,926. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $205.53 and a 12 month high of $256.84. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $246.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $239.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.78.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 95.22% and a net margin of 19.14%. The firm had revenue of $4.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.96 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company 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 $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 65.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on ADP. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of 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 shares of Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $217.00 to $243.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $254.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 8,285 shares in the company, valued at $2,071,250. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through 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 stock was sold at an average price of $247.01, for a total transaction of $90,899.68. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 15,162 shares of company stock worth $3,741,859. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.