Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Sells 150,131 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 18.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 668,936 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 150,131 shares during the period. Automatic Data Processing comprises 0.7% of Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned about 0.16% of Automatic Data Processing worth $185,115,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Accredited Investors Inc. grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4,431.5% in the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,315,295 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $640,712,000 after buying an additional 2,264,202 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 28,478.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,194,587 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,305,780,000 after acquiring an additional 1,190,407 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $160,920,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 332.3% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 623,341 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $172,497,000 after acquiring an additional 479,145 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 242.4% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 644,135 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $153,749,000 after buying an additional 456,027 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of ADP stock opened at $306.03 on Tuesday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $227.12 and a 1 year high of $309.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $292.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $268.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.66, a PEG ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. The company had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.08 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. This is a boost from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total value of $2,479,748.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 36,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,899,862.45. This represents a 20.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $11,692,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 32,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,781,200. The trade was a 54.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on ADP shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price 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. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.91.

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.