Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations Takes $7.20 Million Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 24,596 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,200,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at $342,942,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 41,710.7% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,090,422 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $319,199,000 after buying an additional 1,087,814 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter valued at about $160,920,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 332.3% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 623,341 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $172,497,000 after acquiring an additional 479,145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 3,120,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $910,972,000 after acquiring an additional 449,431 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of ADP opened at $302.41 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $303.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $295.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $231.27 and a twelve month high of $322.84. The company has a market cap of $123.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share 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%. As a group, analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

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 given a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is currently 64.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total value of $704,869.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,063 shares in the company, valued at $929,007.90. This trade represents a 43.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total value of $144,832.60. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,218,112.80. This trade represents a 6.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,951 shares of company stock worth $1,762,074 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ADP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $302.30.

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.