Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Invests $38.50 Million in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 131,236 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $38,497,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Broderick Brian C grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Broderick Brian C now owns 58,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $17,037,000 after purchasing an additional 1,082 shares in the last quarter. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,734 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $508,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 16.9% during the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 8,730 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,555,000 after buying an additional 1,264 shares during the last quarter. Westpac Banking Corp lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 28,014 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,201,000 after purchasing an additional 1,802 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nicolet Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 14.0% during the fourth quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,783 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $511,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ADP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays upped 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 lifted their price objective 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group lifted their target price 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $302.30.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 6.3 %

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $286.13 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $304.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $297.03. 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 52-week low of $231.27 and a 52-week high of $322.84. The company has a market cap of $116.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.84, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.74.

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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.23%.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

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 David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.15, for a total value of $305,322.05. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 6,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,756,961. This represents a 14.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 6,368 shares of company stock valued at $1,903,541 in the last three months. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.