Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Has $548.10 Million Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 13.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,296,344 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 269,986 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 0.56% of Automatic Data Processing worth $548,099,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlueSpruce Investments LP bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 1st quarter worth about $365,757,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth approximately $308,321,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,543,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $825,487,000 after buying an additional 649,791 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 27.7% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,715,382 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $678,601,000 after buying an additional 589,831 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 238.1% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 784,003 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $195,797,000 after acquiring an additional 552,096 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ADP has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $267.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $282.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $265.36.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.60, for a total value of $228,927.60. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 10,410 shares in the company, valued at $2,816,946. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total transaction of $7,164,724.32. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 88,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,959,908.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 58,817 shares of company stock worth $15,999,208. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 0.3 %

Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $277.51 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $260.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $250.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.97, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $205.53 and a fifty-two week high of $279.58.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 89.20% and a net margin of 19.54%. The firm had revenue of $4.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 10.04 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.50%.

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.