Natixis Advisors LLC Raises Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 282,639 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 21,420 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned 0.07% of Automatic Data Processing worth $78,215,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Accredited Investors Inc. grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 4,431.5% during the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,315,295 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $640,712,000 after acquiring an additional 2,264,202 shares in the last quarter. BlueSpruce Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 1st quarter worth approximately $365,757,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 28,478.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,194,587 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,305,780,000 after purchasing an additional 1,190,407 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 238.1% in the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 784,003 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $195,797,000 after purchasing an additional 552,096 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 242.4% in the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 644,135 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $153,749,000 after purchasing an additional 456,027 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ADP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays raised their price target 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. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP opened at $297.64 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $121.28 billion, a PE ratio of 31.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $287.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $264.02.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $2.08 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS 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. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This is a positive change from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total value of $2,479,748.35. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 36,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,899,862.45. This trade represents a 20.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 32,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,781,200. This trade represents a 54.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 97,792 shares of company stock valued at $27,691,708 in the last three months. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.