Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Trims Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lessened its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 42.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,666 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,002 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $738,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. DRW Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $951,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 51.1% during the 3rd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 18,925 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,236,000 after buying an additional 6,399 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 10.4% in the third quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 5,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,585,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the period. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 1.5% in the third quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC now owns 24,489 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,777,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 12.0% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 82,736 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $22,896,000 after purchasing an additional 8,846 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ADP. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group boosted their target price 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 boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $289.91.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, CEO Maria Black sold 19,147 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total value of $5,253,553.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 92,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,464,384.66. This represents a 17.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Don Mcguire sold 3,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total transaction of $872,254.02. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 41,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,440,548.48. The trade was a 7.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 70,504 shares of company stock worth $20,298,056 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of ADP stock opened at $306.92 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $291.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $267.31. The company has a market cap of $125.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.76, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $227.12 and a 12 month high of $309.63.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This is an increase from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.77%.

About Automatic Data Processing

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.