Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Shares Sold by American National Bank & Trust

American National Bank & Trust lowered its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.5% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 14,049 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 221 shares during the period. American National Bank & Trust’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $3,888,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of ADP opened at $283.55 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $205.53 and a 1-year high of $283.76. The stock has a market cap of $116.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $269.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $253.43.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $4.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 10.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.50%.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, CEO Maria Black sold 19,147 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total transaction of $5,253,553.86. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 92,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,464,384.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was 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 directly owns 36,741 shares in the company, valued at $9,899,862.45. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 19,147 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total value of $5,253,553.86. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 92,807 shares in the company, valued at $25,464,384.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 58,817 shares of company stock valued at $15,999,208. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ADP. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $282.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $267.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $267.83.

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.