Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Buys 31,904 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 220.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 46,379 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 31,904 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB's holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $12,834,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 6.4% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 25,544 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $6,097,000 after purchasing an additional 1,535 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the second quarter valued at approximately $232,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 70.7% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 638,507 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $152,405,000 after purchasing an additional 264,466 shares in the last quarter. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the second quarter valued at approximately $109,000. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 6.4% in the second quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 1,935 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $462,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 0.7 %

ADP traded down $2.00 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $298.75. 1,172,562 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,644,564. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $227.12 and a 1-year high of $309.63. The stock's 50-day moving average is $296.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $271.03. The stock has a market cap of $121.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.88, a PEG ratio of 3.54 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 (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 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 business had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.08 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The firm 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 a boost from Automatic Data Processing's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio is presently 65.74%.

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 on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $11,692,500.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 32,604 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,781,200. This represents a 54.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Two 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $289.91.

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.