Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Position Lifted by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 529,690 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 22,766 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.13% of Automatic Data Processing worth $146,581,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ADP. Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 23.8% in the 2nd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 26,610 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $6,352,000 after buying an additional 5,114 shares in the last quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter valued at about $209,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 5.8% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 280,961 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $77,750,000 after buying an additional 15,340 shares during the last quarter. RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter worth $470,000. Finally, Dash Acquisitions Inc. raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. now owns 52,329 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $15,069,000 after buying an additional 2,781 shares during the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on ADP. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada increased 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 report on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Mizuho boosted 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 equities research 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, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $289.91.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the company'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 directly owns 32,604 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,781,200. This represents a 54.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.9 %

ADP opened at $294.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $297.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $273.32. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $227.12 and a one year high of $309.63.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.12. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. The company had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.08 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued 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 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.74%.

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.