Novus Advisors LLC Purchases New Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Novus Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 750 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Andra AP fonden grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 208.9% in the fourth quarter. Andra AP fonden now owns 79,400 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $23,243,000 after purchasing an additional 53,700 shares during the period. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 5,083 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,488,000 after purchasing an additional 408 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 25.4% in the fourth quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 10,806 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,180,000 after purchasing an additional 2,188 shares during the period. Callan Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,213,000. Finally, E Fund Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 32.5% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 5,851 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,713,000 after purchasing an additional 1,434 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of ADP opened at $302.46 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $301.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $293.26. The firm has a market cap of $123.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $231.27 and a 12-month high of $322.84. 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, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is currently 64.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Two equities research 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 MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total transaction of $210,236.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 68,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,077,721.04. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP David Foskett sold 1,004 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.29, for a total value of $290,447.16. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,958 shares in the company, valued at $1,723,589.82. This represents a 14.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,478 shares of company stock worth $1,617,241 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.