Nvest Financial LLC Acquires 880 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Nvest Financial LLC raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 28.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 880 shares during the quarter. Nvest Financial LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,176,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ADP. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter worth $209,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 5.8% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. RIA Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter valued at about $470,000. Dash Acquisitions Inc. raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. now owns 52,329 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,069,000 after acquiring an additional 2,781 shares during the period. Finally, DRW Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter valued at about $951,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $11,692,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 32,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,781,200. This represents a 54.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The shares were 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 owns 6,140 shares in the company, valued at $1,756,961. The trade was a 14.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 42,129 shares of company stock valued at $12,604,872. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ADP. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Mizuho boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ADP opened at $298.31 on Wednesday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $231.27 and a twelve month high of $309.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market cap of $121.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.84, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.79. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $297.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $283.65.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is currently 65.74%.

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.