996 Shares in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Acquired by North Forty Two & Co.

North Forty Two & Co. bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 996 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $292,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth approximately $708,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 280,961 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $77,750,000 after acquiring an additional 15,340 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $951,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 51.1% during the 3rd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 18,925 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,236,000 after acquiring an additional 6,399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 82,736 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $22,896,000 after acquiring an additional 8,846 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $295.93 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $302.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $295.04. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $231.27 and a 1 year high of $322.84. The company has a market capitalization of $120.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 2.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 64.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Automatic Data Processing news, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total transaction of $210,236.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 68,856 shares in the company, valued at $20,077,721.04. This trade represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at $4,027,233.98. The trade was a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,951 shares of company stock worth $1,762,074 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on ADP. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, January 30th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.18.

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.