West Family Investments Inc. Purchases 291 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

West Family Investments Inc. boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 23.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,557 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the quarter. West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $431,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew 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 worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

NASDAQ ADP opened at $297.54 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $121.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.75, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $288.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $264.93. 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 52 week low of $227.12 and a 52 week high of $309.37.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.08 earnings per share. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This is an increase from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is 59.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ADP shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada increased 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 report on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.91.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 32,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,781,200. The trade was a 54.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 19,147 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total transaction of $5,253,553.86. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 92,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,464,384.66. This trade represents a 17.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, 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.