Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Shares Sold by Alesco Advisors LLC

Alesco Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 4.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,298 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 64 shares during the quarter. Alesco Advisors LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $359,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ADP. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 435,093 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.1% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,548,165 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $846,912,000 after buying an additional 139,561 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% during the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 2,556,377 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $610,182,000 after buying an additional 9,464 shares during the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4,431.5% during the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,315,295 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $640,712,000 after buying an additional 2,264,202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 13.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,296,344 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $548,099,000 after acquiring an additional 269,986 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the company’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 transaction of $11,692,500.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 32,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,781,200. This represents a 54.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total transaction of $7,164,724.32. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 88,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,959,908.96. The trade was a 23.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 96,946 shares of company stock valued at $27,462,781 over the last three months. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on ADP shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $305.15 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $124.34 billion, a PE ratio of 32.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a 50-day moving average of $289.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $265.87. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $227.12 and a 12-month high of $309.37.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.08 earnings per share. Automatic Data Processing’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. This is an increase from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.