Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Shares Acquired by ST Germain D J Co. Inc.

ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 18.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,791 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,149 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $4,037,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ADP. MGO One Seven LLC boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 9.8% during the second quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 6,572 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,569,000 after buying an additional 584 shares during the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 21.9% during the second quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 16,107 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,845,000 after purchasing an additional 2,892 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 5.4% during the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 554,982 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $132,469,000 after purchasing an additional 28,297 shares during the period. Qsemble Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 240.2% in the 2nd quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 15,479 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,695,000 after purchasing an additional 10,929 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 160,808 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,383,000 after purchasing an additional 936 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on ADP shares. Citigroup raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $289.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $11,692,500.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 32,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,781,200. The trade was a 54.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,062 shares of company stock valued at $12,299,550. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

NASDAQ ADP traded down $3.50 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $288.39. The company had a trading volume of 640,936 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,184,214. The business has a 50 day moving average of $298.49 and a 200-day moving average of $277.85. The company has a market cap of $117.51 billion, a PE ratio of 30.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $231.27 and a 1-year high of $309.63.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.77 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This is an increase from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.14%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.74%.

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.