First Financial Corp IN Acquires 334 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

First Financial Corp IN boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 62.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 868 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 334 shares during the quarter. First Financial Corp IN’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $254,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 78.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. The trade was a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP David Foskett sold 1,004 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.29, for a total transaction of $290,447.16. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 5,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,723,589.82. This trade represents a 14.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,062 shares of company stock valued at $12,299,550 in the last three months. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on ADP. 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 downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. TD Cowen increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

ADP opened at $290.20 on Tuesday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $231.27 and a 1-year high of $309.63. The company has a market cap of $118.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.97, a PEG ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $298.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $278.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.77 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.08 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal 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 a boost from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.