Farringdon Capital Ltd. Invests $392,000 in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Farringdon Capital Ltd. purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,339 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $392,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 121.8% during the 4th quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total transaction of $704,869.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $929,007.90. This represents a 43.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 478 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.14, for a total transaction of $140,120.92. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 7,364 shares in the company, valued at $2,158,682.96. This trade represents a 6.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 4,775 shares of company stock valued at $1,447,893. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ADP. Barclays raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group increased 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 research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $302.30.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

ADP opened at $293.28 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $301.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $298.01. 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 stock has a market cap of $119.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.74. 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 released its quarterly earnings results 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%. On average, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 64.23%.

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.