Breed s Hill Capital LLC Invests $444,000 in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Breed s Hill Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,906 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $444,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Evolution Advisers Inc. bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 106.0% during the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 173 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.9 %

Automatic Data Processing stock traded up $2.21 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $245.15. The company had a trading volume of 1,020,238 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,765,245. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $205.53 and a fifty-two week high of $256.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $245.12 and its 200-day moving average is $238.97.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.79 by $0.09. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 93.09% and a net margin of 19.56%. The firm had revenue of $5.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.28%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is presently 62.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 694 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.43, for a total transaction of $173,104.42. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,159,958.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.43, for a total transaction of $173,104.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,687 shares in the company, valued at $5,159,958.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Joseph Desilva sold 1,904 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total value of $485,520.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 17,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,380,645. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,966 shares of company stock worth $749,524 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Mizuho upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $254.00 to $250.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Bank of America upgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $217.00 to $243.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $255.42.

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.