Freedom Investment Management Inc. Sells 469 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. cut its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 16.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 469 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $641,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 8.6% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 55,611 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,389,000 after purchasing an additional 4,405 shares in the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter worth $995,000. Shum Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter worth about $276,000. Avestar Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 10.6% during the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 2,180 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $603,000 after buying an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,564 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $710,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on ADP. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $306.92 on Friday. 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 $125.06 billion, a PE ratio of 32.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $291.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $267.58. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $227.12 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.08 EPS. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. This is a boost from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $11,692,500.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,781,200. This trade represents a 54.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 19,147 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total transaction of $5,253,553.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 92,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,464,384.66. This trade represents a 17.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 70,504 shares of company stock valued at $20,298,056. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.