BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Has $113.37 Million Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 4.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 409,686 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 16,318 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. owned approximately 0.10% of Automatic Data Processing worth $113,372,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 1,054 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $292,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.1% in the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,742 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $482,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% in the third quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,485 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,902,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 5,698 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,360,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Austin Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.4% during the third quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 923 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $298.59 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock's fifty day moving average is $288.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $265.16. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $227.12 and a 52 week high of $309.37. The company has a market capitalization of $121.66 billion, a PE ratio of 31.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.77 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.08 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This is a positive change from Automatic Data Processing's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.06%. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio is 59.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ADP shares. Bank of America upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $289.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of Automatic Data Processing 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 36,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,899,862.45. This trade represents a 20.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.60, for a total value of $228,927.60. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 10,410 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,816,946. This trade represents a 7.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 97,792 shares of company stock worth $27,691,708 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

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.

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