Stifel Financial Corp Purchases 11,340 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,917,019 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 11,340 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp owned approximately 0.47% of Automatic Data Processing worth $530,521,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Swmg LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter valued at $620,000. SYM FINANCIAL Corp acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter valued at $206,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter valued at about $457,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 35.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 43,766 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $12,112,000 after purchasing an additional 11,353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 103.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,938 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $813,000 after purchasing an additional 1,491 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $289.91.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 32,604 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,781,200. This trade represents a 54.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total value of $2,479,748.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,899,862.45. This represents a 20.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

ADP stock traded down $1.69 on Thursday, reaching $301.80. 2,444,108 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,630,267. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $227.12 and a 12 month high of $309.63. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $294.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $269.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.97 billion, a PE ratio of 32.39, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.79.

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

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. This is a positive change from Automatic Data Processing's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. Automatic Data Processing's payout ratio is currently 59.77%.

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.