Dash Acquisitions Inc. Purchases 1,872 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Dash Acquisitions Inc. boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 4.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 44,725 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,872 shares during the quarter. Automatic Data Processing makes up approximately 3.4% of Dash Acquisitions Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Dash Acquisitions Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $10,864,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Evolution Advisers Inc. purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 106.0% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 173 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ADP shares. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $253.00 to $251.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Mizuho upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. StockNews.com upgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $255.42.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ ADP traded up $0.96 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $236.63. 1,227,383 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,695,088. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.26, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $205.53 and a 52-week high of $256.84. The company’s 50-day moving average is $245.58 and its 200-day moving average is $243.86.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.79 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $5.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 93.09% and a net margin of 19.56%. The company’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.52 EPS. Analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.50%.

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.