American Century Companies Inc. Has $138.21 Million Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 13.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 472,131 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 54,263 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $138,207,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at about $708,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 280,961 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $77,750,000 after purchasing an additional 15,340 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter valued at about $951,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 51.1% in the 3rd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 18,925 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,236,000 after purchasing an additional 6,399 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 82,736 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $22,896,000 after purchasing an additional 8,846 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP opened at $295.32 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $120.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.79, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $303.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $295.50. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $231.27 and a one year high of $322.84.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. Research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total value of $210,236.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,077,721.04. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were 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 owns 13,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,951 shares of company stock worth $1,762,074. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.18.

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.