Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Decreases Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd lowered its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 30,687 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 285 shares during the period. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $8,492,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,065,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $964,989,000 after purchasing an additional 435,093 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 4.1% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,548,165 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $846,912,000 after buying an additional 139,561 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% in the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 2,556,377 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $610,182,000 after acquiring an additional 9,464 shares during the period. Accredited Investors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4,431.5% during the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,315,295 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $640,712,000 after purchasing an additional 2,264,202 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 13.3% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,296,344 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $548,099,000 after purchasing an additional 269,986 shares during the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $304.67 on Tuesday. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $290.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $266.60. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $227.12 and a 52-week high of $309.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.51, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released 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. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. The business had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.08 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 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 paid a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This is a boost from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now owns 36,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,899,862.45. This represents a 20.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 70,504 shares of company stock worth $20,298,056. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.