Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 667,068 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 51,828 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.16% of Automatic Data Processing worth $194,117,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 2.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,334,580 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,098,541,000 after purchasing an additional 424,328 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 2.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,517,642 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,906,257,000 after purchasing an additional 286,080 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 12.0% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,065,308 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $964,989,000 after purchasing an additional 435,093 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 4.1% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,548,165 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $846,912,000 after purchasing an additional 139,561 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 1.3% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,238,526 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $896,197,000 after purchasing an additional 41,709 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company's stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price 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. Mizuho increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Two investment 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, Automatic Data Processing presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $289.91.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on ADP
Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance
Shares of NASDAQ ADP traded down $0.45 during trading on Friday, hitting $296.76. The company had a trading volume of 1,880,638 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,645,547. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $297.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $271.76. 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 12 month low of $227.12 and a 12 month high of $309.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $120.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.12. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. The firm had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.08 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. This is a boost from Automatic Data Processing's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.77%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at $9,781,200. This trade represents a 54.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Automatic Data Processing Profile
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Free Report)
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.
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