Exeter Financial LLC Has $3.98 Million Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Exeter Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,606 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 96 shares during the quarter. Automatic Data Processing comprises approximately 1.8% of Exeter Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Exeter Financial LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $3,983,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. 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 boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $896,197,000 after purchasing an additional 41,709 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. UBS Group lifted their target price on 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 increased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $289.91.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $11,692,500.00. Following the completion of 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. The trade was a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,062 shares of company stock valued at $12,299,550 in the last 90 days. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of ADP stock opened at $290.20 on Tuesday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $231.27 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $298.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $278.98. The company has a market cap of $118.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.97, a PEG ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $4.77 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.08 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.12%. 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 65.74%.

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.