Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations Acquires Shares of 24,596 Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

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

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LM Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth $981,000. Howe & Rusling Inc. purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at about $431,000. NEOS Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 23.2% in the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 49,542 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $14,502,000 after acquiring an additional 9,316 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 56.5% in the 4th quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 150,252 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $43,983,000 after acquiring an additional 54,256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,030,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ:ADP opened at $302.41 on Thursday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $231.27 and a 1 year high of $322.84. The stock has a market cap of $123.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $303.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $295.96.

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

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is currently 64.23%.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at $4,027,233.98. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total transaction of $210,236.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 68,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,077,721.04. This represents a 1.04 % 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 three months. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ADP has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays increased their price target 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 reaffirmed 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock 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.