MetLife Investment Management LLC Sells 3,427 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

MetLife Investment Management LLC lowered its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 2.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 123,471 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,427 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $34,168,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ADP. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 78.5% during the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 2nd quarter worth $40,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP opened at $307.97 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $290.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $267.03. 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 company has a market capitalization of $125.49 billion, a PE ratio of 32.87, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $227.12 and a 52 week high of $309.37.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. This is a boost 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 is presently 59.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Don Mcguire sold 3,179 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total transaction of $872,254.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 41,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,440,548.48. This represents a 7.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total value of $2,479,748.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 36,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,899,862.45. This represents a 20.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 70,504 shares of company stock worth $20,298,056. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on ADP. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $289.91.

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.