North Forty Two & Co. Acquires Shares of 996 Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

North Forty Two & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 996 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $292,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at $65,000. Brooklyn FI LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at $757,000. Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 94,524 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $27,670,000 after acquiring an additional 2,556 shares during the period. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at $15,090,000. Finally, Evoke Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 5,900 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,736,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total value of $106,366.46. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,027,233.98. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total value of $144,832.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,218,112.80. This trade represents a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,951 shares of company stock valued at $1,762,074 in the last ninety days. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of ADP stock opened at $295.93 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $302.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $295.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market cap of $120.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.86, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $231.27 and a 12 month high of $322.84.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. Research analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ADP shares. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.18.

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.