Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Position Increased by Pictet North America Advisors SA

Pictet North America Advisors SA lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 11.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 36,241 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,817 shares during the quarter. Pictet North America Advisors SA’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $11,073,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 8.8% in the first quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 71,577 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $21,869,000 after purchasing an additional 5,815 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 56,074 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $17,132,000 after buying an additional 2,437 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 453.6% in the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 158,790 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $48,515,000 after buying an additional 130,106 shares in the last quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 112.0% during the 1st quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 3,263 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $958,000 after buying an additional 1,724 shares during the period. Finally, Heritage Investment Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 19.8% during the 1st quarter. Heritage Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,588 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $791,000 after buying an additional 428 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 478 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.14, for a total value of $140,120.92. Following the sale, the vice president owned 7,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,158,682.96. This represents a 6.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

NASDAQ ADP opened at $310.13 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $311.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $303.23. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $231.27 and a 52-week high of $329.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.76.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $5.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.49 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 77.33% and a net margin of 19.79%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.88 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 63.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. TD Securities upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Mizuho lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $321.00 to $332.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, June 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $307.08.

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.