Whittier Trust Co. Decreases Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Whittier Trust Co. decreased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 24,306 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 137 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $6,726,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Global Assets Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the first quarter worth approximately $12,375,000. Evanson Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the first quarter worth approximately $213,000. New England Professional Planning Group Inc. acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the first quarter worth approximately $208,000. Thompson Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 13.5% during the first quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,234 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $308,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the period. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 40.3% during the first quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,561 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,139,000 after buying an additional 1,310 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of ADP stock opened at $290.91 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $277.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $257.33. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $205.53 and a 1-year high of $294.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.07 billion, a PE ratio of 32.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.79. 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 (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $4.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.74 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 89.20% and a net margin of 19.54%. Automatic Data Processing’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 62.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Automatic Data Processing news, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now directly owns 36,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,899,862.45. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total value 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 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Don Mcguire sold 3,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total value of $872,254.02. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 41,696 shares in the company, valued at $11,440,548.48. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 58,817 shares of company stock worth $15,999,208. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $282.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $267.83.

Automatic Data Processing 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.