World Investment Advisors LLC Has $23.20 Million Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 1,277.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 83,843 shares of the business services provider's stock after buying an additional 77,755 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $23,202,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,334,580 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,098,541,000 after acquiring an additional 424,328 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted 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 buying an additional 435,093 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,548,165 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $846,912,000 after buying an additional 139,561 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,238,526 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $896,197,000 after buying an additional 41,709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd boosted 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 valued at $610,182,000 after buying an additional 9,464 shares during the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on ADP shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target 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. TD Cowen raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock traded up $2.76 on Friday, hitting $304.56. The stock had a trading volume of 2,621,938 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,488,306. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $227.12 and a twelve month high of $309.63. The business's 50 day moving average is $295.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $270.13. 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 stock has a market cap of $124.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last issued 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 business had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.08 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS 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 paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This is a boost from Automatic Data Processing's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio is presently 65.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value 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 approximately $9,781,200. This represents a 54.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

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.