Northstar Financial Companies Inc. Takes Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Northstar Financial Companies Inc. purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 1,695 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $496,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at $708,000. Perigon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 33.3% during the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 30,926 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $9,161,000 after purchasing an additional 7,734 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 155,934 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $45,647,000 after purchasing an additional 2,787 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 13,677 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $4,004,000 after purchasing an additional 985 shares during the period. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 248.8% during the 4th quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 38,448 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $11,255,000 after purchasing an additional 27,424 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total transaction of $458,070.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 12,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,686,852.74. This trade represents a 11.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher D'ambrosio sold 473 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total value of $144,832.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,244 shares in the company, valued at $2,218,112.80. The trade was a 6.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,451 shares of company stock worth $743,024. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ADP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. TD Securities raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $305.64.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of ADP traded down $0.02 on Thursday, hitting $324.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 921,682 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,701,614. The company has a market capitalization of $131.57 billion, a PE ratio of 33.80, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $231.27 and a fifty-two week high of $327.99. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $303.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $301.62.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $5.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.49 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.88 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio is currently 63.05%.

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.