West Family Investments Inc. Increases Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

West Family Investments Inc. increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 23.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,557 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 291 shares during the quarter. West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $431,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 78.5% during the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the first quarter worth $36,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Maria Black sold 19,147 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total value of $5,253,553.86. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 92,807 shares in the company, valued at $25,464,384.66. The trade was a 17.10 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total value of $2,479,748.35. Following the sale, the director now owns 36,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,899,862.45. This trade represents a 20.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 97,792 shares of company stock valued at $27,691,708. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 0.1 %

ADP opened at $297.54 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.75, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $288.04 and a 200 day moving average price of $264.93. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $227.12 and a 12 month high of $309.37.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.77 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.08 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. This is a boost from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ADP shares. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. TD Cowen raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.