Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. Invests $995,000 in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 3,593 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $995,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. raised its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 2.1% in the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $482,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake 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 in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted 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 valued at $1,360,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Austin Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 923 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, CEO Maria Black sold 19,147 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $25,464,384.66. This trade represents a 17.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 70,504 shares of company stock valued at $20,298,056. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 1.1 %

ADP stock opened at $307.97 on Wednesday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $227.12 and a 12 month high of $309.37. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $290.64 and its 200 day moving average is $267.03. The company has a market capitalization of $125.48 billion, a PE ratio of 32.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.79. 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 (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued 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 analyst estimates of $4.77 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.08 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. This is a boost from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on ADP shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Mizuho boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. 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 report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, UBS Group boosted 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 report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.91.

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.