Wealthfront Advisers LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 274.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 139,605 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 102,276 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $40,867,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Accredited Investors Inc. increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 4,431.5% during the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,315,295 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $640,712,000 after purchasing an additional 2,264,202 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth about $342,942,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 41,710.7% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,090,422 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $319,199,000 after buying an additional 1,087,814 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter worth about $160,920,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 332.3% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 623,341 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $172,497,000 after buying an additional 479,145 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on ADP shares. 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. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have 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 currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.18.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,756,961. This represents a 14.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total transaction of $210,236.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,077,721.04. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,478 shares of company stock valued at $1,617,241. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 1.1 %

ADP stock opened at $302.99 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $302.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $294.17. The stock has a market cap of $123.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.59, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $231.27 and a twelve month high of $322.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted 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 net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. Research 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 64.23%.

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.