Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Shares Bought by Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec

Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 120.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 315,415 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 172,285 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $92,331,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 121.8% in the fourth quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 0.6 %

ADP opened at $298.69 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.15, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The business has a 50-day moving average of $298.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $298.60.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $5.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.49 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.88 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is currently 64.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total transaction of $704,869.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,063 shares in the company, valued at $929,007.90. The trade was a 43.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 478 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 10th. The stock was 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 directly owns 7,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,158,682.96. The trade was a 6.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 4,775 shares of company stock valued at $1,447,893. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ADP. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group raised 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. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Securities lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $296.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $301.91.

Automatic Data Processing Company 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.