Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Purchases 26,861 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 43.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 88,755 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 26,861 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $24,561,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Accredited Investors Inc. increased its holdings in 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 valued at $640,712,000 after purchasing an additional 2,264,202 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 28,478.6% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,194,587 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,305,780,000 after purchasing an additional 1,190,407 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 332.3% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 623,341 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $172,497,000 after buying an additional 479,145 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 242.4% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 644,135 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $153,749,000 after buying an additional 456,027 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 12.0% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,065,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $964,989,000 after acquiring an additional 435,093 shares during the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $872,254.02. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 41,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,440,548.48. This represents a 7.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 70,504 shares of company stock worth $20,298,056 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on ADP. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

NASDAQ ADP traded down $1.05 during trading on Thursday, reaching $306.92. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,515,441 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,636,188. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $291.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $267.31. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $227.12 and a 12 month high of $309.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.79. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 EPS 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 company had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.08 EPS. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This is an increase from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is 59.77%.

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.