Natixis Advisors LLC Increases Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 8.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 282,639 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 21,420 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Automatic Data Processing worth $78,215,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ADP. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the second quarter worth $27,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 78.5% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the first quarter worth about $33,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.60, for a total value of $228,927.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,410 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,816,946. This trade represents a 7.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $11,692,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 32,604 shares in the company, 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 97,792 shares of company stock worth $27,691,708. Insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

ADP traded down $4.35 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $297.64. 1,457,744 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,667,095. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $227.12 and a 1-year high of $309.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $121.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.79. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $287.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $264.02.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 EPS 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 last year, the firm earned $2.08 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. This is a boost from Automatic Data Processing's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Automatic Data Processing's payout ratio is presently 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.