Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Position Raised by Zions Bancorporation N.A.

Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 2.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,996 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $552,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ADP. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 1,054 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.1% in the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $482,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% in the third quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,902,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% during the second quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 5,698 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,360,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Austin Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 923 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $255,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total value of $2,479,748.35. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,899,862.45. The trade was a 20.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.60, for a total transaction of $228,927.60. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 10,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,816,946. This trade represents a 7.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 97,792 shares of company stock valued at $27,691,708. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 1.4 %

ADP stock opened at $297.64 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $286.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $263.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $227.12 and a 12 month high of $309.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.77 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. This is a positive change from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ADP. 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. Bank of America raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Mizuho upped 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.91.

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.