MetLife Investment Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

MetLife Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 2.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 123,471 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,427 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC's holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $34,168,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 12.5% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 25,637 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $6,397,000 after buying an additional 2,846 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 95.3% during the 1st quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 9,165 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,289,000 after acquiring an additional 4,473 shares during the period. Beacon Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 334.5% during the 1st quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 378 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the first quarter valued at about $118,000. Finally, Wahed Invest LLC grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 16.1% in the first quarter. Wahed Invest LLC now owns 8,199 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $2,048,000 after purchasing an additional 1,135 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ:ADP traded down $1.05 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $306.92. The company had a trading volume of 1,515,441 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,636,188. 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 $125.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.76, a PEG ratio of 3.55 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 stock's fifty day simple moving average is $291.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $267.31.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.08 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. This is a positive change from Automatic Data Processing's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on ADP. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $289.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the business's 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 36,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,899,862.45. The trade was a 20.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $9,781,200. This trade represents a 54.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 70,504 shares of company stock valued at $20,298,056 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

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.