AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Has $78.17 Million Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 39.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 267,104 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 75,448 shares during the quarter. Automatic Data Processing comprises 1.0% of AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc owned approximately 0.07% of Automatic Data Processing worth $78,167,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth $209,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 280,961 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $77,750,000 after acquiring an additional 15,340 shares in the last quarter. RIA Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth about $470,000. Dash Acquisitions Inc. raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. now owns 52,329 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,069,000 after purchasing an additional 2,781 shares during the period. Finally, DRW Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter valued at about $951,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total value of $106,366.46. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,027,233.98. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total value of $210,236.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,077,721.04. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 42,129 shares of company stock valued at $12,604,872 over the last ninety days. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ADP. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group lifted their price target 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. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP opened at $297.10 on Friday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $231.27 and a 52-week high of $309.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a market capitalization of $121.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $297.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $282.10.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released 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. The company had revenue of $4.83 billion during 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.74%.

Automatic Data Processing 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.