Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Boosts Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 7.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 219,784 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,894 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $60,821,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Port Capital LLC purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter worth about $11,242,000. IHT Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,327 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,030,000 after buying an additional 580 shares during the last quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 16,211 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,486,000 after buying an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 10,826 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,996,000 after buying an additional 1,545 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Investment Management Corp of Ontario raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 49.4% in the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 13,604 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,765,000 after buying an additional 4,500 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 0.6 %

Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $301.80 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $294.67 and a 200 day moving average of $269.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.21, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $227.12 and a 12-month high of $309.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.08 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. This is an increase from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ADP shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada upped 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 report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group upped 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $289.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value 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. This represents a 54.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.