Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Buys 3,151 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 43,305 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,151 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $10,343,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 47.2% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 3,319 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $773,000 after acquiring an additional 1,064 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 29.8% in the fourth quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 4,248 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $990,000 after purchasing an additional 975 shares during the period. Holderness Investments Co. acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth $207,000. Edge Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC now owns 7,132 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,662,000 after buying an additional 438 shares during the period. Finally, Fairview Capital Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Fairview Capital Investment Management LLC now owns 2,240 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $522,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.60, for a total transaction of $228,927.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 10,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,816,946. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.60, for a total value of $228,927.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,816,946. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Don Mcguire sold 3,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total value of $872,254.02. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 41,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,440,548.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 58,817 shares of company stock worth $15,999,208 over the last three months. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ADP. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $267.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $267.83.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 1.2 %

ADP opened at $280.08 on Wednesday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $205.53 and a 1-year high of $281.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $114.63 billion, a PE ratio of 31.26, a PEG 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 50-day moving average price of $268.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $253.22.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly 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%. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

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

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.