Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Shares Sold by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. decreased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 37.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 401,581 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 236,926 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.10% of Automatic Data Processing worth $111,130,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,769,440 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,932,020,000 after acquiring an additional 173,298 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 12.0% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,065,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $964,989,000 after purchasing an additional 435,093 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 2.3% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,625,186 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $905,354,000 after purchasing an additional 81,869 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 4.1% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,548,165 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $846,912,000 after purchasing an additional 139,561 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 27.7% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,715,382 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $678,601,000 after purchasing an additional 589,831 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ADP shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $275.33.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of ADP traded down $0.32 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $289.72. The stock had a trading volume of 289,209 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,621,460. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $205.53 and a fifty-two week high of $294.18. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $278.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $257.89. The firm has a market cap of $118.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.54% and a return on equity of 89.20%. The company had revenue of $4.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.74 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 10.04 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.50%.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total value of $7,164,724.32. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 88,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,959,908.96. This represents 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 related news, CEO Maria Black sold 19,147 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total transaction of $5,253,553.86. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 92,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,464,384.66. This trade 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 Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total transaction of $7,164,724.32. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 88,426 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,959,908.96. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 58,817 shares of company stock valued at $15,999,208 over the last three months. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.