Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Makes New Investment in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 6,613 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,830,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ADP. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 1,054 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $292,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,742 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $482,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,485 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,902,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 5,698 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,360,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Austin Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 923 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $255,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

ADP traded down $1.48 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $300.75. 1,952,248 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,646,542. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.10, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $227.12 and a 1-year high of $309.63. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $296.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $270.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. The company had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.08 EPS. The company's 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 9.93 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 $1.54 dividend. This is an increase from Automatic Data Processing's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

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 stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value 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. The trade was a 54.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, 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. Two investment 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $289.91.

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.