BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Raises Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 59.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 78,683 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,411 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $18,781,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% during the second 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. boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% in the second quarter. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,645 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,302,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. boosted its stake in 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 valued at $206,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC raised its position in 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, Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 1.3% during the second quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 3,471 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $828,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ADP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $267.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $265.36.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of ADP opened at $276.64 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $113.23 billion, a PE ratio of 30.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $266.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $252.09. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $205.53 and a 1-year high of $281.54.

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

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.50%.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total value 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 approximately $23,959,908.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.60, for a total transaction of $228,927.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,410 shares in the company, valued at $2,816,946. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total value of $7,164,724.32. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 88,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,959,908.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 58,817 shares of company stock worth $15,999,208 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.