Wealth Quarterback LLC Lowers Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Wealth Quarterback LLC cut its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,757 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 101 shares during the quarter. Wealth Quarterback LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,040,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,437 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $951,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Executive Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter worth $9,097,000. Windward Capital Management Co. CA boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 3.3% during the third quarter. Windward Capital Management Co. CA now owns 23,888 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,610,000 after buying an additional 773 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter valued at about $1,066,000. Finally, Equitable Trust Co. lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 117.3% in the 3rd quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 22,173 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,136,000 after acquiring an additional 11,967 shares during the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $304.73 on Friday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $225.38 and a fifty-two week high of $306.92. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $284.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $261.82. 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 stock has a market cap of $124.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.52, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.77 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.08 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. 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 payout ratio is currently 59.77%.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the business’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 trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Automatic Data Processing news, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the business’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 owns 36,741 shares of the company’s stock, 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.60, for a total value of $228,927.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 10,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,816,946. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 97,792 shares of company stock worth $27,691,708. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on ADP. Citigroup raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.