ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd Buys 827 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 18.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,323 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 827 shares during the quarter. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,473,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total transaction of $2,479,748.35. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,741 shares in the company, valued at $9,899,862.45. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.60, for a total transaction of $228,927.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,410 shares in the company, valued at $2,816,946. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total transaction of $2,479,748.35. Following the transaction, the director now owns 36,741 shares in the company, valued at $9,899,862.45. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 97,792 shares of company stock valued at $27,691,708 in the last three months. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ADP. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Barclays lifted their price target 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. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.3 %

ADP traded up $0.86 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $308.77. The company had a trading volume of 223,728 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,628,197. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $285.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $262.92. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $227.12 and a one year high of $309.36. The company has a market capitalization of $125.81 billion, a PE ratio of 32.86, a PEG ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.12. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. The firm had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.08 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given 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 2.00%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 59.77%.

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.