QRG Capital Management Inc. Raises Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 4.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 31,126 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,253 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $8,614,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Keener Financial Planning LLC raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 230.3% in the first quarter. Keener Financial Planning LLC now owns 109 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in 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 worth $32,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the first quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the first quarter worth about $36,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ADP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho lifted their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

ADP opened at $289.86 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 market cap of $118.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.93, a PEG ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.78. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $218.63 and a 52-week high of $294.18. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $281.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $260.46.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total transaction of $2,479,748.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 36,741 shares in the company, valued at $9,899,862.45. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of Automatic Data Processing 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 36,741 shares in the company, valued at $9,899,862.45. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total transaction of $7,164,724.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 88,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,959,908.96. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 58,817 shares of company stock worth $15,999,208 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Company 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.