Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Shares Acquired by Public Sector Pension Investment Board

Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 12.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 17,514 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $4,847,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 78.5% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter worth about $35,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the second quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, New Millennium Group LLC acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ADP has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Two equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Maria Black sold 19,147 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total transaction of $5,253,553.86. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 92,807 shares in the company, valued at $25,464,384.66. This represents a 17.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 transaction of $11,692,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 32,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,781,200. The trade was a 54.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 70,504 shares of company stock valued at $20,298,056 in the last quarter. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of ADP opened at $306.93 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $292.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $268.30. The stock has a market cap of $125.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.76, a PEG ratio of 3.57 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.08 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $1.54 dividend. 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 yield of 2.01%. Automatic Data Processing’s 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.