Natural Investments LLC Purchases New Shares in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Natural Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 4,981 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,458,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter worth $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Two investment 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 data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $296.18.

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Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

NASDAQ ADP opened at $302.99 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $123.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $231.27 and a fifty-two week high of $322.84. The stock's fifty day moving average is $302.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $294.17.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 transaction of $106,366.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total value of $210,236.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,856 shares of the company's stock, 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 have sold a total of 5,478 shares of company stock worth $1,617,241 in the last quarter. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.

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