Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 38,319 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 392 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $10,604,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the second quarter worth $27,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake 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 worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 1st quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

ADP opened at $307.50 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.29 billion, a PE ratio of 32.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $285.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $262.92. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $227.12 and a 52-week high of $309.37.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.08 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. This is a boost from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is presently 65.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ADP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price 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. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at $9,781,200. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total transaction of $7,164,724.32. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 88,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,959,908.96. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $11,692,500.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 32,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,781,200. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 97,792 shares of company stock worth $27,691,708. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.