Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Has $5.24 Million Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 51.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 18,925 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 6,399 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $5,236,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 40,303 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $10,065,000 after purchasing an additional 2,989 shares during the last quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 19.0% during the 1st quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 5,288 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,321,000 after purchasing an additional 844 shares during the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 1st quarter valued at $1,719,000. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 1st quarter valued at $1,764,000. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 28,661 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,928,000 after buying an additional 1,794 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Automatic Data Processing news, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 36,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,899,862.45. The trade was a 20.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $11,692,500.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 32,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,781,200. The trade was a 54.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 70,504 shares of company stock valued at $20,298,056 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $305.15 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $124.34 billion, a PE ratio of 32.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 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 0.56. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $227.12 and a 12-month high of $309.37. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $289.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $266.18.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released 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. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. The business had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.08 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.02%. This is a positive change from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is currently 59.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ADP shares. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $289.91.

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.