1,344 Shares in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Purchased by Stevens Capital Management LP

Stevens Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,344 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $393,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ADP. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 121.8% in the 4th quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 122 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock 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 target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $302.30.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP David Foskett sold 1,004 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.29, for a total transaction of $290,447.16. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,723,589.82. This trade represents a 14.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total value of $106,366.46. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at $4,027,233.98. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,951 shares of company stock valued at $1,762,074 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of ADP traded down $4.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $300.83. The company had a trading volume of 1,785,428 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,628,056. The stock has a market cap of $122.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $303.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $296.20. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $231.27 and a fifty-two week high of $322.84.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.