Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Grows Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 38.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 694,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 194,150 shares during the quarter. Automatic Data Processing accounts for 1.3% of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. owned approximately 0.17% of Automatic Data Processing worth $192,136,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ADP. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 78.5% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, New Millennium Group LLC acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total transaction of $2,479,748.35. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 36,741 shares in the company, valued at $9,899,862.45. This represents a 20.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 70,504 shares of company stock valued at $20,298,056. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Mizuho increased 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.2 %

Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $305.15 on Monday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $227.12 and a fifty-two week high of $309.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $289.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $266.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01.

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

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is currently 59.77%.

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.