Versant Capital Management Inc Purchases 423 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 39.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,495 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 423 shares during the quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $438,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Founders Financial Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 2nd quarter worth about $218,000. Cozad Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.0% during the second quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,555 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,326,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 5.8% during the second quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,403 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,051,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 35.4% during the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,670 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $399,000 after purchasing an additional 437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 852,275 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $203,430,000 after purchasing an additional 50,418 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $289.65 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $231.27 and a twelve month high of $309.63. The company has a market cap of $118.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79. The company’s 50 day moving average is $298.35 and its 200 day moving average is $276.30.

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

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. This is an increase from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is currently 65.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ADP shares. Citigroup raised 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. UBS Group raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.91.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 32,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,781,200. This trade represents a 54.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.