Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 22,766 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 4.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 529,690 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,766 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $146,581,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

NASDAQ ADP opened at $294.02 on Friday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $227.12 and a 1-year high of $309.63. The company has a 50 day moving average of $297.74 and a 200-day moving average of $273.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $119.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.38, a PEG ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. The firm 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 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. This is an increase from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is 65.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on ADP. UBS Group upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays increased their price target on shares of 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, Mizuho raised their price target 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.91.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the vice president now owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at $9,781,200. The trade was a 54.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.