Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Shares Purchased by Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC

Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 24,489 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 360 shares during the quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $6,777,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the first quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the second quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ADP. Stifel Nicolaus upped 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. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Two investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.91.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, CEO Maria Black sold 19,147 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,464,384.66. The trade was a 17.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total transaction of $2,479,748.35. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 36,741 shares in the company, 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 three months, insiders sold 70,504 shares of company stock worth $20,298,056. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $305.15 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $227.12 and a 12 month high of $309.37. The company has a market cap of $124.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $289.55 and its 200-day moving average is $266.18.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.08 earnings per share. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 2.02%. This is a boost from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. 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.