Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Sells 285 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd decreased its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 30,687 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 285 shares during the quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $8,492,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 78.5% during the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the second quarter worth about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Maria Black sold 19,147 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total value of $5,253,553.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 92,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,464,384.66. This represents a 17.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $11,692,500.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,781,200. This represents a 54.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 70,504 shares of company stock worth $20,298,056. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on ADP. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

ADP opened at $304.67 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $227.12 and a 52-week high of $309.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.79. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $290.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $266.60.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.08 earnings per share. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. This is a boost from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. 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, December 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.77%.

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.