S&CO Inc. Raises Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

S&CO Inc. grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 205,840 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,350 shares during the period. Automatic Data Processing accounts for approximately 3.7% of S&CO Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. S&CO Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $56,962,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Jacobi Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 5,912 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,476,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. Cynosure Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the first quarter worth $376,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 18.4% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 976 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 1.4% during the first quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 46,708 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $11,665,000 after buying an additional 649 shares in the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 104,780 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $26,168,000 after acquiring an additional 9,287 shares during the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

NASDAQ ADP opened at $297.64 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $287.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $264.02. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $227.12 and a 12-month high of $309.37. The firm has a market cap of $121.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.77, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.77 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. Automatic Data Processing’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.08 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. This is a positive change from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $289.91.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, CEO Maria Black sold 19,147 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total value of $5,253,553.86. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 92,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,464,384.66. This trade represents a 17.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were 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 approximately $9,899,862.45. This represents a 20.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 97,792 shares of company stock valued at $27,691,708 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.