GAMMA Investing LLC Boosts Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 12.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,347 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 929 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $2,443,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,334,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,098,541,000 after purchasing an additional 424,328 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,517,642 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,906,257,000 after acquiring an additional 286,080 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 12.0% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,065,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $964,989,000 after acquiring an additional 435,093 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 4.1% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,548,165 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $846,912,000 after acquiring an additional 139,561 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 1.3% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,238,526 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $896,197,000 after acquiring an additional 41,709 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

NASDAQ:ADP opened at $289.65 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $298.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $276.30. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $231.27 and a 52 week high of $309.63. The stock has a market cap of $118.02 billion, a PE ratio of 30.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79. 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 (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.08 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This is an increase from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 65.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.91.

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.