Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Shares Sold by Caxton Associates LP

Caxton Associates LP trimmed its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 73.4% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,376 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,572 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LP’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $567,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 14.2% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 801,857 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $200,256,000 after acquiring an additional 99,515 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 70.7% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 638,507 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $152,405,000 after buying an additional 264,466 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 195.1% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 51,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,888,000 after buying an additional 34,118 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the first quarter worth about $2,924,000. Finally, LVW Advisors LLC raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 23.8% during the first quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 3,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $962,000 after acquiring an additional 740 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total transaction of $7,164,724.32. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 88,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,959,908.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total transaction of $7,164,724.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 88,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,959,908.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were 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 directly owns 10,410 shares in the company, valued at $2,816,946. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 58,817 shares of company stock valued at $15,999,208 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ADP. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $267.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $267.83.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

ADP stock opened at $274.43 on Friday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $205.53 and a 1 year high of $281.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $112.32 billion, a PE ratio of 30.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $266.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $252.25.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 89.20% and a net margin of 19.54%. The company had revenue of $4.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 10.04 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 Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.50%.

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.