Kieckhefer Group LLC Makes New $42,000 Investment in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 145 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $42,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Clark & Stuart Inc bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth $845,000. Aprio Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 66.8% in the 4th quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,436 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $420,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 88,345 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $25,861,000 after acquiring an additional 5,273 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 6,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,903,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lynch & Associates IN purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth $205,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the business’s 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 directly owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at $9,781,200. The trade was a 54.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,027,233.98. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,062 shares of company stock worth $12,299,550 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.9 %

ADP stock traded up $2.46 during trading on Monday, hitting $289.31. 407,900 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,319,008. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $117.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.88, a PEG ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $231.27 and a 1 year high of $309.63. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $298.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $278.61.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $4.77 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This is a positive change 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%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ADP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays increased their target price 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. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. TD Cowen raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Company 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.