Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Grows Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 14.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 101,295 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,540 shares during the quarter. Automatic Data Processing makes up 0.8% of Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $29,652,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter worth $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays lifted their price objective 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. UBS Group increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.18.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.15, for a total transaction of $305,322.05. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,140 shares in the company, valued at $1,756,961. This represents a 14.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total transaction of $144,832.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,244 shares in the company, valued at $2,218,112.80. This represents a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 5,951 shares of company stock valued at $1,762,074. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of ADP opened at $298.79 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $231.27 and a 52-week high of $322.84. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $302.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $295.07. The company has a market capitalization of $121.74 billion, a PE ratio of 31.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 EPS 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.23%.

Automatic Data Processing Company 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.