Jacobs & Co. CA Reduces Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Jacobs & Co. CA lessened its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 54,603 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,500 shares during the quarter. Automatic Data Processing comprises approximately 1.6% of Jacobs & Co. CA’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Jacobs & Co. CA’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $15,983,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. MGO One Seven LLC lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 9.8% during the second quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 6,572 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,569,000 after purchasing an additional 584 shares in the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 21.9% during the second quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 16,107 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,845,000 after purchasing an additional 2,892 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 5.4% during the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 554,982 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $132,469,000 after purchasing an additional 28,297 shares in the last quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 240.2% in the second quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 15,479 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,695,000 after purchasing an additional 10,929 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.6% in the second quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 160,808 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $38,383,000 after purchasing an additional 936 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 transaction of $11,692,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,781,200. This trade represents a 54.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP David Foskett sold 1,004 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.29, for a total transaction of $290,447.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,723,589.82. This trade represents a 14.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,062 shares of company stock valued at $12,299,550 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of ADP stock traded down $3.64 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $288.25. The company had a trading volume of 1,071,705 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,270,121. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $298.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $277.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a market capitalization of $117.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $231.27 and a twelve month high of $309.63.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.77 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.08 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This is a positive change from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on ADP shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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. StockNews.com upgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays increased 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 report on Monday, November 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $289.91.

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.