Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Shares Bought by Caprock Group LLC

Caprock Group LLC grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 3.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,450 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 803 shares during the quarter. Caprock Group LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $5,965,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ADP. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 70.7% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 638,507 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $152,405,000 after purchasing an additional 264,466 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 247,474 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $61,804,000 after acquiring an additional 4,253 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 23.8% in the 2nd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 26,610 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,352,000 after acquiring an additional 5,114 shares during the period. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $209,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 2,917.1% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 4,224 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $997,000 after purchasing an additional 4,084 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.60, for a total transaction of $228,927.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 10,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,816,946. This trade represents a 7.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $11,692,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at $9,781,200. This represents a 54.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 97,792 shares of company stock valued at $27,691,708. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho upped their target price 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, November 4th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP opened at $297.89 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $121.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.79, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.79. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $287.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $264.53.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $4.83 billion for 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%. The business’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.08 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. This is an increase from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.74%.

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.