Howard Financial Services LTD. Invests $497,000 in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Howard Financial Services LTD. purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,697 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $497,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,044,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 237.6% during the second quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 6,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,606,000 after purchasing an additional 4,735 shares during the period. Waterloo Capital L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 10.2% in the second quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 1,057 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 2nd quarter worth about $314,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,032,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

NASDAQ ADP opened at $296.18 on Friday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $231.27 and a 12-month high of $309.63. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $298.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $279.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $120.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.08 EPS. Analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

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 given a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 11th. UBS Group raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $289.91.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $11,692,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 32,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,781,200. The trade was a 54.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total value of $210,236.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,077,721.04. This trade represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 42,129 shares of company stock worth $12,604,872. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Company 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.