Russell Investments Group Ltd. Acquires 44,948 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. by 9.2%, owning 535,619 shares worth approximately $163.46 million at the end of Q1.
• Automatic Data Processing reported quarterly earnings of $2.26 EPS, surpassing estimates, with revenue of $5.13 billion—a 6.3% increase from the previous year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $1.54 to be paid on October 1st, representing an annualized dividend of $6.16 and a yield of 2.0%.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 9.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 535,619 shares of the business services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 44,948 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.13% of Automatic Data Processing worth $163,460,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 7.8% in the 1st quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 141,497 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $43,105,000 after acquiring an additional 10,261 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 2,356 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $720,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Trajan Wealth LLC increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Trajan Wealth LLC now owns 13,126 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $4,010,000 after buying an additional 837 shares during the period. Dillon & Associates Inc. increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Dillon & Associates Inc. now owns 69,120 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $21,151,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 55,299 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $16,896,000 after buying an additional 4,323 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

NASDAQ:ADP traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $301.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,362,355 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,535,148. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $305.74 and a 200-day simple moving average of $305.57. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $262.21 and a twelve month high of $329.93. The company has a market capitalization of $122.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.24, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $2.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 72.84% and a net margin of 19.84%. The firm had revenue of $5.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.05 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 61.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on ADP. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $323.00 to $315.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $321.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, TD Securities increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $314.33.

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.