Accredited Investors Inc. Has $640.71 Million Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Accredited Investors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 4,431.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,315,295 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 2,264,202 shares during the quarter. Automatic Data Processing makes up 16.0% of Accredited Investors Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Accredited Investors Inc. owned about 0.57% of Automatic Data Processing worth $640,712,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ADP. Atomi Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 17.0% in the 1st quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,826 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $456,000 after buying an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 16.6% in the first quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 1,644 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $410,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the first quarter worth approximately $217,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 23.2% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 18,414 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,599,000 after purchasing an additional 3,465 shares during the period. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 9.0% in the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 17,198 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,295,000 after purchasing an additional 1,427 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

ADP traded up $1.13 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $307.91. 1,711,193 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,634,606. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 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, Inc. has a one year low of $226.09 and a one year high of $309.21. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $284.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $262.46.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.77 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. The company's revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.08 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This is a positive change from Automatic Data Processing's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Automatic Data Processing's payout ratio is currently 59.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $289.91.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of Automatic Data Processing 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 directly owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,781,200. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total transaction of $2,479,748.35. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,741 shares in the company, valued at $9,899,862.45. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $11,692,500.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at $9,781,200. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 97,792 shares of company stock valued at $27,691,708. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.