Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. Boosts Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 8.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,400 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $664,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on ADP. UBS Group upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America lifted their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of ADP stock opened at $305.15 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $289.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $266.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.34 billion, a PE ratio of 32.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $227.12 and a 52-week high of $309.37.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This is a boost from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.77%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total value of $7,164,724.32. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 88,426 shares in the company, valued at $23,959,908.96. The trade was a 23.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Don Mcguire sold 3,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total value of $872,254.02. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 41,696 shares in the company, valued at $11,440,548.48. This represents a 7.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 96,946 shares of company stock valued at $27,462,781 over the last quarter. 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.