Pecaut & CO. Invests $205,000 in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Pecaut & CO. bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 700 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at $708,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 5.8% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 280,961 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $77,750,000 after acquiring an additional 15,340 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter valued at about $951,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 51.1% during the third quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 18,925 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,236,000 after acquiring an additional 6,399 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 82,736 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $22,896,000 after purchasing an additional 8,846 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total value of $106,366.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total value of $210,236.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,077,721.04. This trade represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,951 shares of company stock valued at $1,762,074 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ADP shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.18.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ:ADP opened at $297.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company has a market capitalization of $121.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $231.27 and a one year high of $322.84. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $302.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $295.08.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. Sell-side analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is currently 64.23%.

About Automatic Data Processing

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.