Physicians Financial Services Inc. Buys 749 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Physicians Financial Services Inc. grew its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 23,186 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 749 shares during the quarter. Automatic Data Processing comprises approximately 2.1% of Physicians Financial Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Physicians Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $6,787,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter worth $708,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 5.8% during the third 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 period. RIA Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter worth $470,000. Finally, Dash Acquisitions Inc. raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. now owns 52,329 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,069,000 after purchasing an additional 2,781 shares during the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total transaction of $704,869.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $929,007.90. This trade represents a 43.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,478 shares of company stock valued at $1,617,241. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 0.4 %

ADP opened at $311.97 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $298.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $289.74. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $231.27 and a fifty-two week high of $313.72. The company has a market cap of $127.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.79. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 EPS 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 anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business 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 $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 64.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $293.55.

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.