Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Has $5.24 Million Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 51.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,925 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 6,399 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd's holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $5,236,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ADP. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,065,308 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $964,989,000 after acquiring an additional 435,093 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $846,912,000 after purchasing an additional 139,561 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 2,556,377 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $610,182,000 after purchasing an additional 9,464 shares during the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 4,431.5% in the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,315,295 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $640,712,000 after purchasing an additional 2,264,202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 13.3% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,296,344 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $548,099,000 after buying an additional 269,986 shares in 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 opened at $305.15 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $227.12 and a 12-month high of $309.37. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $289.55 and a 200-day moving average of $266.18.

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 (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 company had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.08 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. This is a positive change from Automatic Data Processing's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Automatic Data Processing's payout ratio is presently 59.77%.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Don Mcguire sold 3,179 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 41,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,440,548.48. This trade represents a 7.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total value of $2,479,748.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 36,741 shares in the company, valued at $9,899,862.45. The trade was a 20.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 70,504 shares of company stock valued at $20,298,056 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ADP shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Mizuho raised 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. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Company 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.