Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Shares Acquired by BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 4.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 409,686 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,318 shares during the quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $113,372,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ADP. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Delap Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the first quarter valued at $204,000. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.7% in the first quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 5,340 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,334,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,457 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,860,000 after acquiring an additional 925 shares during the period. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 247,474 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $61,804,000 after purchasing an additional 4,253 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on 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, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $289.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total value of $2,479,748.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 36,741 shares in the company, valued at $9,899,862.45. The trade was a 20.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,781,200. This represents a 54.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 97,792 shares of company stock worth $27,691,708 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of ADP opened at $298.59 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $288.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $265.16. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $227.12 and a 12-month high of $309.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $121.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.12. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. The firm had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.08 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $1.54 dividend. This is an increase from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is currently 59.77%.

Automatic Data Processing 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.