Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Buys 99,912 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 24.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 501,493 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 99,912 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $146,802,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,334,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,098,541,000 after purchasing an additional 424,328 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 2.8% during 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 buying an additional 286,080 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 435,093 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,548,165 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $846,912,000 after buying an additional 139,561 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 1.3% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 41,709 shares during the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.15, for a total value of $305,322.05. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 6,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,756,961. The trade was a 14.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total value of $210,236.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 68,856 shares in the company, valued at $20,077,721.04. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 42,129 shares of company stock worth $12,604,872. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. TD Cowen increased 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. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays lifted their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada upped 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. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $291.69 on Wednesday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $231.27 and a 1-year high of $309.63. The company’s 50-day moving average is $298.48 and its 200 day moving average is $279.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79. 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 issued 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. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. The firm had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is currently 65.74%.

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.