Scotia Capital Inc. Buys 264 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Scotia Capital Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 6.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,280 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 264 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,308,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Cheviot Value Management LLC purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the first quarter worth about $358,000. Liberty Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 91.0% in the first quarter. Liberty Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,946 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,733,000 after acquiring an additional 4,262 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 94.4% during the first quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 1,050 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $321,000 after acquiring an additional 510 shares during the last quarter. Banco Santander S.A. lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 27.3% during the first quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 4,505 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,376,000 after acquiring an additional 967 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 4.8% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,296,920 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $396,248,000 after buying an additional 58,922 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of ADP opened at $301.64 on Thursday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $258.51 and a 12-month high of $329.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The company has a market cap of $122.44 billion, a PE ratio of 30.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $308.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $305.30.

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

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 61.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ADP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $323.00 to $315.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Automatic Data Processing to a “hold” rating and set a $340.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $321.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.