Port Capital LLC Has $16.07 Million Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Port Capital LLC raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 35.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 54,886 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,263 shares during the quarter. Port Capital LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $16,067,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth approximately $708,000. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 121.7% during the 4th quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 12,898 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,776,000 after acquiring an additional 7,080 shares during the period. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 46.8% in the fourth quarter. Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,239 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $948,000 after acquiring an additional 1,032 shares during the last quarter. Burney Co. raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 25.8% during the fourth quarter. Burney Co. now owns 11,605 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,397,000 after purchasing an additional 2,377 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perigon Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 33.3% in the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 30,926 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,161,000 after purchasing an additional 7,734 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total value of $458,070.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 12,073 shares in the company, valued at $3,686,852.74. This represents a 11.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total transaction of $144,832.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,218,112.80. The trade was a 6.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,451 shares of company stock valued at $743,024 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ADP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. TD Securities raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $296.00 to $298.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $303.55.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ADP opened at $309.41 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $125.60 billion, a PE ratio of 32.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. 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 twelve month low of $231.27 and a twelve month high of $322.84. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $297.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $299.59.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.09. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. The company had revenue of $5.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.88 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.05%.

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.