Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Has $152.12 Million Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 45.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 637,300 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 199,953 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 0.16% of Automatic Data Processing worth $152,117,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ADP. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $267.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $282.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $265.36.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 0.5 %

ADP stock opened at $276.41 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $264.76 and a 200-day moving average of $251.51. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $205.53 and a fifty-two week high of $281.54. The company has a market capitalization of $113.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.85, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01.

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

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.50%.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, CEO Maria Black sold 19,147 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total value of $5,253,553.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 92,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,464,384.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, 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 $9,899,862.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 19,147 shares of the firm’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 $5,253,553.86. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 92,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,464,384.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 58,817 shares of company stock valued at $15,999,208. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.