Stevens Capital Management LP Makes New Investment in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Stevens Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 3,805 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $886,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Heritage Investment Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Heritage Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,201 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $513,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. now owns 8,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,065,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 8,292 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,995,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,151 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $999,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 4,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,067,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ADP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $217.00 to $243.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $254.58.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of ADP stock traded down $0.27 on Thursday, hitting $246.34. 1,224,474 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,796,831. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $247.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $239.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $101.19 billion, a PE ratio of 28.71, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.78. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $201.46 and a twelve month high of $256.84.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $4.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.14% and a return on equity of 95.22%. The company’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.96 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.14 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $215,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,285 shares in the company, valued at $2,071,250. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $215,750.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 8,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,071,250. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Don Mcguire sold 11,333 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $2,776,585.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 19,906 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,876,970. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 15,162 shares of company stock worth $3,741,859. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.