Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. Invests $708,000 in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 2,417 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $708,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total value of $106,366.46. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total value of $210,236.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,077,721.04. This trade represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,478 shares of company stock worth $1,617,241. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

NASDAQ ADP opened at $310.22 on Friday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $231.27 and a 1 year high of $311.67. The business’s fifty day moving average is $297.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $287.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $126.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00.

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

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ADP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $293.55.

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.