Verus Capital Partners LLC Has $382,000 Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Verus Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 9.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,305 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 111 shares during the quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $382,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 7.3% in the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 589 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $163,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 1.4% in the third quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 4,479 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,240,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Weatherly Asset Management L. P. acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter worth $216,000. Dash Acquisitions Inc. grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 5.6% in the third quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. now owns 52,329 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,069,000 after purchasing an additional 2,781 shares during the period. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 3.2% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 10,084 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,790,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 1.2 %

Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $315.18 on Friday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $231.27 and a fifty-two week high of $316.46. The stock has a market cap of $128.42 billion, a PE ratio of 32.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $300.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $292.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. Research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 64.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on ADP. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $293.55.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total value of $704,869.20. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 3,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $929,007.90. The trade was a 43.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,478 shares of company stock worth $1,617,241 over the last three months. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.