Brighton Jones LLC Acquires 280 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,533 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,755,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ADP. Brookstone Capital Management increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 96.3% during the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 14,186 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,491,000 after buying an additional 6,958 shares during the period. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter worth about $98,000. Vicus Capital purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter worth about $244,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 3.3% during the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 44,305 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,659,000 after purchasing an additional 1,399 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter worth about $700,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ADP opened at $241.89 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $99.37 billion, a PE ratio of 28.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.78. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $205.53 and a fifty-two week high of $256.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $246.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $239.06.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $4.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.65 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 95.22% and a net margin of 19.14%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.96 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on ADP. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $267.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Evercore ISI upped their target price 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. Bank of America raised Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $217.00 to $243.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $258.36.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Don Mcguire sold 11,333 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $2,776,585.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 19,906 shares in the company, valued at $4,876,970. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Don Mcguire sold 11,333 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $2,776,585.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 19,906 shares in the company, valued at $4,876,970. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of the company’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 transaction, the vice president now owns 20,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,018,996.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,162 shares of company stock worth $3,741,859 over the last quarter. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Automatic Data Processing 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.