Polymer Capital Management US LLC Takes $710,000 Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Polymer Capital Management US LLC acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 2,424 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $710,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 121.8% during the 4th quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total value of $704,869.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $929,007.90. The trade was a 43.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total value of $458,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,686,852.74. This represents a 11.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,364 shares of company stock valued at $1,613,094. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ADP. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $302.30.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of ADP opened at $286.13 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $116.59 billion, a PE ratio of 29.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.74. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $304.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $297.30. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $231.27 and a 52-week high of $322.84.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. On average, sell-side 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 firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.15%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is 64.23%.

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.