Summit Financial LLC Purchases 2,502 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Summit Financial LLC raised its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 14.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 19,349 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,502 shares during the quarter. Summit Financial LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $5,694,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 12.9% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 17,514 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,847,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Acropolis Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth $132,000. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY now owns 2,297 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $636,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter worth $75,341,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter worth $152,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP opened at $300.83 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market cap of $122.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $303.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $296.45. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $231.27 and a fifty-two week high of $322.84.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.05%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.23%.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total value of $704,869.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $929,007.90. This trade represents a 43.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total value of $144,832.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,218,112.80. This represents a 6.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,951 shares of company stock valued at $1,762,074. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on ADP. UBS Group upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $302.30.

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.