Central Bank & Trust Co. Reduces Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Central Bank & Trust Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 861 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 73 shares during the quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $238,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. BlueSpruce Investments LP purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 1st quarter worth about $365,757,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 28,478.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,194,587 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,305,780,000 after purchasing an additional 1,190,407 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 238.1% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 784,003 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $195,797,000 after buying an additional 552,096 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 242.4% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 644,135 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $153,749,000 after buying an additional 456,027 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,065,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $964,989,000 after acquiring an additional 435,093 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on ADP. Citigroup upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. 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 research report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

ADP stock opened at $291.18 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $282.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $260.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $218.63 and a one year high of $294.18. The firm has a market cap of $118.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.08, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.08 earnings per share. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, CEO Maria Black sold 19,147 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total value of $5,253,553.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 92,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,464,384.66. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was 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 owns 10,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,816,946. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 19,147 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total transaction of $5,253,553.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 92,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,464,384.66. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 58,817 shares of company stock valued at $15,999,208 in the last three months. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.