Peterson Financial Group Inc. Makes New Investment in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 180 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $50,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Accredited Investors Inc. lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 4,431.5% in the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,315,295 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $640,712,000 after purchasing an additional 2,264,202 shares in the last quarter. BlueSpruce Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the first quarter valued at about $365,757,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 28,478.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,194,587 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,305,780,000 after buying an additional 1,190,407 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 238.1% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 784,003 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $195,797,000 after acquiring an additional 552,096 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 242.4% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 644,135 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $153,749,000 after acquiring an additional 456,027 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.60, for a total value of $228,927.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,816,946. This trade represents a 7.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total transaction of $7,164,724.32. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 88,426 shares in the company, valued at $23,959,908.96. The trade was a 23.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 97,792 shares of company stock valued at $27,691,708. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of ADP stock opened at $297.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market cap of $121.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $287.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $264.02. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $227.12 and a one year high of $309.37.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. The company had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This is a boost from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ADP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. 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 boosted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $289.91.

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.