Vertex Planning Partners LLC Reduces Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Vertex Planning Partners LLC lowered its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 769 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 96 shares during the quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $213,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 12.0% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of 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 boosted 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 valued at $846,912,000 after buying an additional 139,561 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 2,556,377 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $610,182,000 after acquiring an additional 9,464 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Accredited Investors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4,431.5% during the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,315,295 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $640,712,000 after purchasing an additional 2,264,202 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ADP. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. 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. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $289.91.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, CEO Maria Black sold 19,147 shares of Automatic Data Processing 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 92,807 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,464,384.66. This trade represents a 17.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total value of $2,479,748.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 36,741 shares in the company, valued at $9,899,862.45. The trade was a 20.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 97,792 shares of company stock valued at $27,691,708. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

ADP opened at $297.89 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $287.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $264.53. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $227.12 and a 52-week high of $309.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.38 billion, a PE ratio of 31.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 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.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued 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. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. The business had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.08 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This is a boost from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.