NS Partners Ltd Raises Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

NS Partners Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 90,361 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,331 shares during the quarter. NS Partners Ltd’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $25,006,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ADP. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 78.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

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 shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value 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 $9,781,200. This trade represents a 54.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $9,899,862.45. This trade represents a 20.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 97,792 shares of company stock valued at $27,691,708. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ADP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective 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. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted 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 note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Two 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

NASDAQ:ADP opened at $297.54 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $121.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 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. The company’s 50-day moving average is $288.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $264.93. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $227.12 and a 12-month high of $309.37.

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 net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. The company had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.08 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. 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. This is an increase from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is 59.77%.

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.