Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Grows Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 38.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 694,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 194,150 shares during the quarter. Automatic Data Processing makes up approximately 1.3% of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $192,136,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ADP. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 3.4% in the third quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 1,054 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $292,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 2.1% in the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $482,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,902,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 5,698 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,360,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Austin Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 923 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions 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 that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $11,692,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 32,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,781,200. The trade was a 54.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 19,147 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total transaction of $5,253,553.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 92,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,464,384.66. This represents a 17.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 70,504 shares of company stock valued at $20,298,056 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

ADP stock opened at $305.15 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $289.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $266.18. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $227.12 and a 52 week high of $309.37. The stock has a market cap of $124.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter last year, the business posted $2.08 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 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 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ADP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays increased their price target 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. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.