Czech National Bank Grows Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 88,345 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,273 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $25,861,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 92,324 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $22,037,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 8,071 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,927,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 34.2% during the 2nd quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 8,885 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,120,000 after purchasing an additional 2,265 shares during the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 46.0% during the second quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 9,720 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,320,000 after buying an additional 3,063 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.8% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,426 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,682,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of ADP opened at $286.85 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $298.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $278.61. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $231.27 and a 12-month high of $309.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $116.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. The business’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.08 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $1.54 per share. This is a positive change from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.91.

Insider Activity

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at $4,027,233.98. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $11,692,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,062 shares of company stock valued at $12,299,550. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.