GLOBALT Investments LLC GA Lowers Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

GLOBALT Investments LLC GA trimmed its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 5.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,555 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,481 shares during the period. GLOBALT Investments LLC GA’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $7,348,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ADP. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 153.8% during the first quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 9,907 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,488,000 after purchasing an additional 6,004 shares in the last quarter. Puzo Michael J grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 5.8% in the first quarter. Puzo Michael J now owns 50,533 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,620,000 after acquiring an additional 2,760 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 93.4% in the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 88,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $21,977,000 after acquiring an additional 42,495 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co. grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.5% in the first quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 10,374 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,591,000 after acquiring an additional 256 shares during the period. Finally, InterOcean Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 23.2% during the first quarter. InterOcean Capital Group LLC now owns 4,846 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,210,000 after purchasing an additional 912 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on ADP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.91.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.60, for a total value of $228,927.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,816,946. This represents a 7.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 19,147 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 92,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 three months, insiders sold 97,792 shares of company stock worth $27,691,708. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 1.4 %

ADP opened at $297.64 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $287.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $264.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $227.12 and a one year high of $309.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.08 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This is an increase from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is currently 65.74%.

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.