Independent Advisor Alliance Has $3.54 Million Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Independent Advisor Alliance cut its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 5.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,777 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 758 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $3,536,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 51.1% in the third quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 18,925 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,236,000 after buying an additional 6,399 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 10.4% in the third quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 5,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,585,000 after buying an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.5% in the third quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC now owns 24,489 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,777,000 after buying an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 12.0% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 82,736 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $22,896,000 after buying an additional 8,846 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Garner Asset Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.1% in the third quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp now owns 4,125 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,142,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ADP has been the topic of several recent research reports. 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 report on Tuesday, August 20th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.91.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $11,692,500.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 32,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,781,200. This trade represents a 54.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 36,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,899,862.45. This represents a 20.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 70,504 shares of company stock valued at $20,298,056 over the last 90 days. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ ADP opened at $304.67 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $124.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.79. 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’s 50-day moving average is $290.07 and its 200-day moving average is $266.60. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $227.12 and a one year high of $309.37.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.77 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. This is a positive change from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 59.77%.

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.