Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Buys 9,929 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 704,237 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,929 shares during the quarter. Automatic Data Processing makes up 1.4% of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $206,151,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 23.8% during the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 6,976 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,930,000 after buying an additional 1,339 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 17,514 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,847,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 2.2% in the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 12,285 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,400,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the period. Vinva Investment Management Ltd lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 331.8% during the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 5,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,375,000 after purchasing an additional 3,872 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centric Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.1% during the third quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 10,872 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,318,000 after purchasing an additional 117 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 equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $302.30.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total transaction of $210,236.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 68,856 shares in the company, valued at $20,077,721.04. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,027,233.98. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,951 shares of company stock worth $1,762,074. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ ADP opened at $300.83 on Friday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $231.27 and a 1-year high of $322.84. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $303.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $296.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $122.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. Equities research analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is presently 64.23%.

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.