Conning Inc. Sells 8,368 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Conning Inc. reduced its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 5.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 139,234 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 8,368 shares during the period. Conning Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $38,530,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,769,440 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,932,020,000 after buying an additional 173,298 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,065,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $964,989,000 after acquiring an additional 435,093 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 81,869 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 4.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 139,561 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ninety One UK Ltd raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% during the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 2,556,377 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $610,182,000 after purchasing an additional 9,464 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the firm’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 sale, the director now owns 36,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,899,862.45. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.60, for a total transaction of $228,927.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,816,946. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the 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 sale, the director now owns 36,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,899,862.45. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 58,817 shares of company stock valued at $15,999,208. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $282.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Bank of America increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Two 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $285.09.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $288.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market cap of $117.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.76, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.79. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $281.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $260.01. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $211.52 and a 1 year high of $294.18.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.08 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.94%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.77%.

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.