Natixis Advisors LLC Acquires 15,567 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 298,206 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 15,567 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $87,294,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on ADP. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price 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 reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group raised 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. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total value of $210,236.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,077,721.04. This trade represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $2,218,112.80. The trade was a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,951 shares of company stock worth $1,762,074 in the last quarter. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ADP opened at $291.76 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $231.27 and a 12-month high of $322.84. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $302.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $294.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $118.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76.

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

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.