SBI Securities Co. Ltd. Takes $559,000 Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,911 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $559,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ADP. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 76.0% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 265,166 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $73,379,000 after acquiring an additional 114,473 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 2.5% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 162,287 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $44,910,000 after acquiring an additional 3,887 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 4.2% during the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 31,126 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,614,000 after acquiring an additional 1,253 shares during the period. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 95.7% during the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 773 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $214,000 after acquiring an additional 378 shares during the period. Finally, FSM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 48.3% during the third quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,498 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $415,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ADP opened at $313.44 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $127.71 billion, a PE ratio of 32.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $231.27 and a fifty-two week high of $322.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $301.49 and a 200-day moving average of $293.07.

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 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $1.54 per share. 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%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.15, for a total transaction of $305,322.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,140 shares in the company, valued at $1,756,961. The trade was a 14.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total value of $704,869.20. Following the sale, the vice president now directly 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. Insiders sold a total of 5,478 shares of company stock worth $1,617,241 over the last ninety days. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.18.

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.