World Investment Advisors LLC Has $2.07 Million Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

World Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 22.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,466 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,378 shares during the quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $2,066,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,334,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,098,541,000 after buying an additional 424,328 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 2.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,517,642 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,906,257,000 after acquiring an additional 286,080 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 12.0% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,065,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $964,989,000 after purchasing an additional 435,093 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 4.1% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,548,165 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $846,912,000 after purchasing an additional 139,561 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 1.3% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,238,526 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $896,197,000 after purchasing an additional 41,709 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 32,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,781,200. The trade was a 54.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $296.76 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $120.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79. 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 twelve month low of $227.12 and a twelve month high of $309.63. The company’s fifty day moving average is $297.02 and its 200 day moving average is $271.76.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $4.83 billion during 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. This is an increase from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 59.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. 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 note on Tuesday, August 20th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised 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 research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Company 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.