Banco Santander S.A. Acquires New Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 2,380 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $659,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ADP. Accredited Investors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4,431.5% during the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,315,295 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $640,712,000 after buying an additional 2,264,202 shares during the period. BlueSpruce Investments LP bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the first quarter valued at about $365,757,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 28,478.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,194,587 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,305,780,000 after purchasing an additional 1,190,407 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 238.1% in the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 784,003 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $195,797,000 after purchasing an additional 552,096 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 242.4% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 644,135 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $153,749,000 after purchasing an additional 456,027 shares during the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of ADP stock traded up $0.58 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $305.15. The company had a trading volume of 1,311,987 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,718,801. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $227.12 and a 12 month high of $309.37. 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 firm's fifty day moving average is $289.55 and its 200 day moving average is $265.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.57, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.08 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. 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 2.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Automatic Data Processing's payout ratio is presently 59.77%.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Don Mcguire sold 3,179 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total transaction of $872,254.02. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 41,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,440,548.48. The trade was a 7.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $11,692,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 32,604 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,781,200. This trade represents a 54.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 96,946 shares of company stock valued at $27,462,781 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently 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.