Ascent Group LLC Reduces Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Ascent Group LLC lowered its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 43.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,369 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 6,501 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC's holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $2,316,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ADP. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 20,134 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $5,572,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1,628.9% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 196,922 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $54,509,000 after acquiring an additional 185,532 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter valued at about $224,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter valued at about $152,000. Finally, Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter worth about $75,341,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total transaction of $2,479,748.35. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 36,741 shares in the company, valued at $9,899,862.45. This represents a 20.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the firm'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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 32,604 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,781,200. This represents a 54.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ ADP traded down $2.01 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $304.02. 414,947 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,625,818. 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 fifty day moving average price of $292.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $268.30. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $227.12 and a 12-month high of $309.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $123.88 billion, a PE ratio of 32.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.77 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.08 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This is a positive change from Automatic Data Processing's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ADP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $289.91.

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.