Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Increases Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 14.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 500,158 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 61,734 shares during the quarter. Automatic Data Processing makes up 0.9% of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. owned 0.12% of Automatic Data Processing worth $119,383,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of ADP. Plato Investment Management Ltd lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 23.8% during the second quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 26,610 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,352,000 after purchasing an additional 5,114 shares in the last quarter. Nia Impact Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Nia Impact Advisors LLC now owns 7,155 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,708,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,523 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,034,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 84,928 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $20,271,000 after buying an additional 649 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.3% in the second quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 5,872 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,402,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 36,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,899,862.45. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total value of $7,164,724.32. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 88,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,959,908.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $2,479,748.35. Following the sale, the director now owns 36,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,899,862.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 58,817 shares of company stock valued at $15,999,208. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of ADP stock opened at $277.51 on Monday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $205.53 and a 1 year high of $279.58. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $260.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $250.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $113.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.97, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 89.20% and a net margin of 19.54%. The company had revenue of $4.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on ADP. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $265.36.

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.