Ethos Financial Group LLC Raises Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Ethos Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 18.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,388 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the period. Ethos Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $560,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 11,842 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,849,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Gratus Capital LLC grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Gratus Capital LLC now owns 6,136 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,476,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth about $9,524,000. Dubuque Bank & Trust Co acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth about $202,000. Finally, Lafayette Investments Inc. grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc. now owns 3,159 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $760,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ:ADP traded up $2.21 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $245.15. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,020,238 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,765,245. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $245.12 and a 200-day moving average of $238.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $205.53 and a 52-week high of $256.84.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.79 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $5.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 93.09% and a net margin of 19.56%. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.52 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 62.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ADP has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $253.00 to $251.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $255.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.43, for a total transaction of $173,104.42. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,159,958.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 694 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.43, for a total transaction of $173,104.42. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 20,687 shares in the company, valued at $5,159,958.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Joseph Desilva sold 1,904 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total transaction of $485,520.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 17,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,380,645. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,966 shares of company stock valued at $749,524. 0.26% 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.