Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Boosts Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 332.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 623,341 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 479,145 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $172,497,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ADP. Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 55,611 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,389,000 after acquiring an additional 4,405 shares during the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $995,000. Shum Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $276,000. Avestar Capital LLC boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 2,180 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $603,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,564 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $710,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Don Mcguire sold 3,179 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total value of $872,254.02. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 41,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,440,548.48. The trade was a 7.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of Automatic Data Processing 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 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 70,504 shares of company stock worth $20,298,056. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP opened at $307.97 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $290.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $267.03. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $227.12 and a 12 month high of $309.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.77 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.08 EPS. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. This is a positive change from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on ADP shares. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $289.91.

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.