Balboa Wealth Partners Increases Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Balboa Wealth Partners increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 881 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners’ holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $258,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total value of $106,366.46. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at $4,027,233.98. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total value of $144,832.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,218,112.80. The trade was a 6.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,951 shares of company stock worth $1,762,074 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ADP. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group upped their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price 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. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.18.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $290.55 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $231.27 and a twelve month high of $322.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.39 billion, a PE ratio of 30.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $302.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $294.30.

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

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.23%.

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.