Fmr LLC Trims Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Fmr LLC trimmed its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 36.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,261,129 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 713,664 shares during the quarter. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $348,992,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 78.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 2nd quarter worth $40,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the second quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 36,741 shares in the company, valued at $9,899,862.45. The trade was a 20.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,781,200. This represents a 54.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 70,504 shares of company stock valued at $20,298,056. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.0 %

Shares of ADP stock opened at $306.93 on Friday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $227.12 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.06 billion, a PE ratio of 32.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.79. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $292.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $268.15.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. The company had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.08 EPS. Automatic Data Processing’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect 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 given a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This is an increase from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is currently 65.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group boosted 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. Royal Bank of Canada raised 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 note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.