Holocene Advisors LP Invests $160.92 Million in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 581,507 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $160,920,000. Holocene Advisors LP owned about 0.14% of Automatic Data Processing at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ADP. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the second quarter worth $27,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 78.5% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter worth about $35,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, New Millennium Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.0 %

ADP stock opened at $306.93 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $292.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $268.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.76, a PEG ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $227.12 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.77 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.08 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. This is a positive change from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on ADP shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.91.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, CEO Maria Black sold 19,147 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total transaction of $5,253,553.86. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 92,807 shares in the company, valued at $25,464,384.66. This represents a 17.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $11,692,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 32,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,781,200. The trade was a 54.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 70,504 shares of company stock worth $20,298,056 in the last quarter. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Automatic Data Processing

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.