Equitable Trust Co. Raises Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Equitable Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 117.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 22,173 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,967 shares during the period. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $6,136,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ADP. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 801,857 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $200,256,000 after purchasing an additional 99,515 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 70.7% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 638,507 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $152,405,000 after buying an additional 264,466 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 195.1% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 51,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,888,000 after acquiring an additional 34,118 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 247,474 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $61,804,000 after acquiring an additional 4,253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 23.8% during the 2nd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 26,610 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,352,000 after acquiring an additional 5,114 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 0.0 %

NASDAQ ADP opened at $304.73 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $124.17 billion, a PE ratio of 32.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $225.38 and a 52 week high of $306.92. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $284.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $261.82.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. The business 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 company’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.08 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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 2.02%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 59.77%.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,781,200. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at $9,781,200. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total value of $2,479,748.35. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 36,741 shares in the company, valued at $9,899,862.45. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 97,792 shares of company stock valued at $27,691,708 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ADP. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays increased their price objective 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. Citigroup increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.