Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Shares Bought by LPL Financial LLC

LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 3.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 571,969 shares of the business services provider's stock after acquiring an additional 16,987 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned about 0.14% of Automatic Data Processing worth $158,281,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 131.6% during the 3rd quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 11,351 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,141,000 after purchasing an additional 6,450 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 24.2% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 75,950 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $21,018,000 after acquiring an additional 14,813 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 409,686 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $113,372,000 after acquiring an additional 16,318 shares during the period. Cornerstone Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 28.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 18,800 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,203,000 after acquiring an additional 4,200 shares during the period. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 5,783 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,600,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted 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. Two research 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $289.91.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total transaction of $7,164,724.32. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 88,426 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,959,908.96. The trade was a 23.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $9,781,200. This represents a 54.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 96,946 shares of company stock worth $27,462,781 over the last three months. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP traded up $0.58 during trading on Friday, reaching $305.15. The company had a trading volume of 1,311,987 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,718,801. 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 3.54 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $289.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $265.87. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $227.12 and a fifty-two week high of $309.37.

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, beating 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 return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This is an increase from Automatic Data Processing's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Automatic Data Processing's payout ratio is 59.77%.

About Automatic Data Processing

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.