Planning Capital Management Corp Purchases 1,858 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Planning Capital Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 96.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,788 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 1,858 shares during the period. Planning Capital Management Corp's holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,048,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ADP. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 1st quarter worth approximately $754,000. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 28.9% during the 1st quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,791 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $697,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares during the period. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 3,636 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $908,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 7,771 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,941,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the period. Finally, Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 13.6% in the first quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 15,364 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,837,000 after buying an additional 1,844 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP traded down $5.51 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $301.99. 1,480,380 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,633,927. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $286.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $263.23. 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 stock has a market cap of $123.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.82, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $227.12 and a twelve month high of $309.37.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $4.83 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.08 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. Automatic Data Processing's payout ratio is currently 65.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total transaction of $7,164,724.32. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 88,426 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,959,908.96. This represents a 23.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 97,792 shares of company stock valued at $27,691,708 in the last quarter. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ADP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased 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 issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $289.91.

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.