Hilltop Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 515.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,024 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 15,932 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc.'s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $5,264,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ADP. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 70.7% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 638,507 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $152,405,000 after buying an additional 264,466 shares during the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 23.8% during the second quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 26,610 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $6,352,000 after buying an additional 5,114 shares in the last quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter worth $209,000. ORG Partners LLC lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 2,917.1% during the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 4,224 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $997,000 after purchasing an additional 4,084 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter worth $470,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of analysts recently weighed in on ADP shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on 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 target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $289.91.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on ADP
Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 0.8 %
Shares of NASDAQ:ADP traded down $2.46 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $303.57. 1,459,553 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,626,838. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $227.12 and a one year high of $309.63. 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 business's 50 day moving average is $292.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $268.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $123.69 billion, a PE ratio of 32.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.79.
Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. Automatic Data Processing's revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.08 earnings per share. As a group, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. 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 2.03%. Automatic Data Processing's payout ratio is currently 59.77%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total transaction of $2,479,748.35. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 36,741 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,899,862.45. This represents a 20.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the 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 transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.
Automatic Data Processing Profile
(
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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