Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Shares Bought by Brooklyn Investment Group

Brooklyn Investment Group raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,564 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $710,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 0.5% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 259,196 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $71,727,000 after acquiring an additional 1,162 shares during the period. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $221,000. Hancock Whitney Corp increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 9,307 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,576,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 11,889 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,290,000 after purchasing an additional 1,433 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 38.8% during the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 694,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $192,136,000 after buying an additional 194,150 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ADP. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America upped their price target 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 boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Mizuho upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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 research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of ADP opened at $304.67 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $290.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $266.60. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $227.12 and a 52-week high of $309.37. The company has a market capitalization of $124.14 billion, a PE ratio of 32.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. The firm 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast 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 given a $1.54 dividend. This is a positive change from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is presently 59.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Automatic Data Processing news, CEO Maria Black sold 19,147 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total transaction of $5,253,553.86. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 92,807 shares in the company, valued at $25,464,384.66. This represents a 17.10 % decrease in their position. 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 firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,781,200. This trade represents a 54.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 70,504 shares of company stock worth $20,298,056 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.