Assetmark Inc. Grows Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 6.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,437 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $951,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 3.4% during the third quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 1,054 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $292,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% during the third quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,902,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Austin Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 4.4% during the third 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 during the period. Finally, Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% during the second quarter. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,645 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,302,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Maria Black sold 19,147 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total transaction of $5,253,553.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 92,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,464,384.66. This trade represents a 17.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.60, for a total value of $228,927.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 10,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,816,946. The trade was a 7.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 97,792 shares of company stock valued at $27,691,708. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 1.4 %

ADP stock opened at $297.64 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $121.28 billion, a PE ratio of 31.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $286.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $263.50. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $227.12 and a 52 week high of $309.37. 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 (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.12. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. The business had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ADP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.