Auxier Asset Management Buys 80 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Auxier Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,755 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. Auxier Asset Management’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $2,146,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ADP. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 70.7% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 638,507 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $152,405,000 after acquiring an additional 264,466 shares during the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 23.8% during the second 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 Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter valued at $209,000. ORG Partners LLC grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 2,917.1% in the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 4,224 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $997,000 after purchasing an additional 4,084 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter valued at $470,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Don Mcguire sold 3,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total transaction of $872,254.02. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 41,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,440,548.48. This trade represents a 7.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 19,147 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total transaction of $5,253,553.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 92,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,464,384.66. This trade represents a 17.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 70,504 shares of company stock worth $20,298,056 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of ADP stock opened at $306.92 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $125.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.76, a PEG ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.79. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $227.12 and a 52 week high of $309.63. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $291.84 and a 200 day simple moving average of $267.58.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. The company 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.08 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. This is a positive change from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ADP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.