Northwest Bancshares Inc. Has $655,000 Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Northwest Bancshares Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 3.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,367 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 75 shares during the quarter. Northwest Bancshares Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $655,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 1,054 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $292,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 2.1% during the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $482,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% during the third quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,902,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% during the second quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 5,698 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,360,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Austin Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.4% in the third quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 923 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ADP opened at $297.54 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $288.04 and its 200 day moving average is $264.93. The stock has a market cap of $121.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.75, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $227.12 and a 1-year high of $309.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 EPS 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 business’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. This is a boost from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on ADP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.91.

Insider Activity

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the 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 sale, the vice president now owns 32,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,781,200. This represents a 54.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 19,147 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 92,807 shares in the company, valued at $25,464,384.66. The trade was a 17.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 97,792 shares of company stock valued at $27,691,708. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.