World Equity Group Inc. Has $1.06 Million Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

World Equity Group Inc. grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 15.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,820 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 502 shares during the quarter. World Equity Group Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,057,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ADP. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 14.2% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 801,857 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $200,256,000 after purchasing an additional 99,515 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 70.7% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 638,507 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $152,405,000 after purchasing an additional 264,466 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 195.1% during the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 51,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,888,000 after purchasing an additional 34,118 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 247,474 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $61,804,000 after purchasing an additional 4,253 shares during the period. Finally, Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 23.8% during the second quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 26,610 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,352,000 after acquiring an additional 5,114 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

ADP traded up $2.77 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $290.95. The company had a trading volume of 95,136 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,630,141. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $218.63 and a 1 year high of $294.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a market cap of $118.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a 50-day moving average of $281.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $260.13.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.77 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.77%.

Insider Activity

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total transaction of $7,164,724.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 88,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,959,908.96. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of Automatic Data Processing 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 36,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,899,862.45. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total transaction of $7,164,724.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 88,426 shares in the company, valued at $23,959,908.96. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 58,817 shares of company stock worth $15,999,208 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. StockNews.com cut shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.91.

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.