Vinva Investment Management Ltd Grows Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Vinva Investment Management Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 331.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,872 shares during the quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,375,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 78.5% during the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, New Millennium Group LLC acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the second quarter valued at $40,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ADP opened at $306.93 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $125.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.76, a PEG ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $227.12 and a 1-year high of $309.63. The business has a 50-day moving average of $292.45 and a 200-day moving average of $267.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.77 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.08 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal 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 dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. This is a positive change from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.77%.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $11,692,500.00. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total transaction of $2,479,748.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 36,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,899,862.45. The trade was a 20.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 70,504 shares of company stock worth $20,298,056 in the last three months. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.