Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Raises Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 163,834 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,547 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $48,524,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $293.55.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total value of $210,236.39. Following the completion of 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 trade represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.15, for a total value of $305,322.05. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,140 shares in the company, valued at $1,756,961. This trade represents a 14.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 5,478 shares of company stock valued at $1,617,241. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ADP opened at $310.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market cap of $126.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $297.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $287.85. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $231.27 and a 1-year high of $311.67.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued 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 net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. 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.