Cerity Partners LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 11.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 184,177 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 18,793 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $50,976,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ADP. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 70.7% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 638,507 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $152,405,000 after buying an additional 264,466 shares during the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 23.8% in the 2nd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 26,610 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,352,000 after purchasing an additional 5,114 shares during the last quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter worth about $209,000. ORG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 2,917.1% during the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 4,224 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $997,000 after buying an additional 4,084 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter valued at $470,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ ADP opened at $305.15 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $227.12 and a 12 month high of $309.37. The company has a market cap of $124.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $289.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $266.02.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.08 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Don Mcguire sold 3,179 shares of the firm’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 $872,254.02. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 41,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,440,548.48. This trade represents a 7.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 19,147 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total value of $5,253,553.86. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 96,946 shares of company stock worth $27,462,781. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upped 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $289.91.

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.