Generali Investments Management Co LLC Makes New $1.65 Million Investment in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Generali Investments Management Co LLC bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 5,634 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,649,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total value 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 represents a 43.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,077,721.04. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,951 shares of company stock worth $1,762,074. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ADP. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated 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 analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.18.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of ADP stock opened at $295.93 on Wednesday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $231.27 and a 1-year high of $322.84. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $302.66 and a 200 day moving average of $295.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $120.58 billion, a PE ratio of 30.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.23%.

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.