Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Has $185.12 Million Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. decreased its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 668,936 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 150,131 shares during the quarter. Automatic Data Processing comprises approximately 0.7% of Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $185,115,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ADP. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 70.7% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 638,507 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $152,405,000 after acquiring an additional 264,466 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 23.8% in the 2nd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 26,610 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,352,000 after buying an additional 5,114 shares during the last quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter valued at about $209,000. ORG Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2,917.1% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 4,224 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $997,000 after buying an additional 4,084 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter valued at approximately $470,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total value of $2,479,748.35. Following the sale, the director now owns 36,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,899,862.45. This trade represents a 20.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $11,692,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,781,200. The trade was a 54.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on 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, StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

NASDAQ:ADP opened at $306.03 on Tuesday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $227.12 and a 52 week high of $309.63. The company has a market capitalization of $124.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.66, a PEG ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a 50-day moving average of $292.45 and a 200-day moving average of $268.30.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. The company had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. This is a positive change from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 59.77%.

Automatic Data Processing Company 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.