Nearwater Capital Markets Ltd Invests $9.08 Million in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Nearwater Capital Markets Ltd bought a new stake 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 31,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,075,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AMG National Trust Bank lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 11,334 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,318,000 after purchasing an additional 33 shares during the last quarter. Aspiriant LLC grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 2,372 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $694,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,466,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 3,686 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,079,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riversedge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 916 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $268,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ADP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research 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. TD Securities raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $296.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $303.55.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total value of $458,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,686,852.74. This represents a 11.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total transaction of $144,832.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 7,244 shares in the company, valued at $2,218,112.80. The trade was a 6.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,451 shares of company stock worth $743,024 over the last 90 days. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

ADP opened at $308.19 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.10 billion, a PE ratio of 32.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $231.27 and a 12-month high of $322.84. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $297.44 and a two-hundred day moving average of $299.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $5.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.49 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. The company’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.88 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 63.05%.

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.