Headlands Technologies LLC Purchases Shares of 11,383 Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 11,383 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,332,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth about $455,993,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth about $342,942,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 41,710.7% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,090,422 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $319,199,000 after purchasing an additional 1,087,814 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter worth approximately $160,920,000. Finally, Amundi grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 3,120,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $910,972,000 after acquiring an additional 449,431 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP David Foskett sold 1,004 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.29, for a total transaction of $290,447.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now 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 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 90 days. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ADP has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded 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 company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $302.30.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

ADP opened at $305.53 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $304.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $296.64. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $231.27 and a 52-week high of $322.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.49 billion, a PE ratio of 31.86, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released 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 return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is currently 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.