UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Has $896.20 Million Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,238,526 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 41,709 shares during the quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $896,197,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Accredited Investors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4,431.5% in the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,315,295 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $640,712,000 after acquiring an additional 2,264,202 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 28,478.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,194,587 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,305,780,000 after purchasing an additional 1,190,407 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 332.3% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 623,341 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $172,497,000 after purchasing an additional 479,145 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 242.4% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 644,135 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $153,749,000 after purchasing an additional 456,027 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,065,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $964,989,000 after buying an additional 435,093 shares during the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ADP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Mizuho increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing currently has a consensus 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 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 directly owns 32,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,781,200. This represents a 54.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total value of $2,479,748.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 36,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,899,862.45. This represents a 20.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 70,504 shares of company stock worth $20,298,056. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $306.92 on Thursday. 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 company has a market cap of $125.06 billion, a PE ratio of 32.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $291.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $267.31. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $227.12 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 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. Stockholders 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 a boost from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is currently 59.77%.

Automatic Data Processing 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.