Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Buys 1,171 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,717 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,171 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $10,435,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Moors & Cabot Inc. lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% in the second quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 5,698 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,360,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,645 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,302,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 863 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $206,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.8% during the first quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 5,581 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,402,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Patron Partners LLC increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 1.6% during the first quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 2,733 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $683,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ADP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $282.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $265.36.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

ADP opened at $279.41 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $114.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $262.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $250.94. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $205.53 and a 52-week high of $281.54.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.54% and a return on equity of 89.20%. The company had revenue of $4.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.89 EPS. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 10.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 62.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total value of $2,479,748.35. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,899,862.45. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Automatic Data Processing news, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total transaction of $2,479,748.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 36,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,899,862.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Don Mcguire sold 3,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total transaction of $872,254.02. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 41,696 shares in the company, valued at $11,440,548.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 58,817 shares of company stock valued at $15,999,208. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.