Mizuho Markets Americas LLC Cuts Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Mizuho Markets Americas LLC trimmed its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 8.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 22,925 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,020 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $6,344,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Northcape Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Northcape Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,399 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,771,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. First Long Island Investors LLC raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 1.5% in the third quarter. First Long Island Investors LLC now owns 202,446 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $56,023,000 after buying an additional 3,028 shares during the last quarter. Archer Investment Corp raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 5.4% in the third quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 973 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $269,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 22.5% during the third quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 1,563 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $433,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.9% during the third quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 14,335 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,967,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $297.64 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $121.28 billion, a PE ratio of 31.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $227.12 and a twelve month high of $309.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $287.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $263.87.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.08 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This is a boost from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $23,959,908.96. This represents a 23.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.60, for a total value of $228,927.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,410 shares in the company, valued at $2,816,946. This trade represents a 7.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 97,792 shares of company stock valued at $27,691,708 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on ADP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Citigroup lifted their price objective 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. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of 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 boosted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $289.91.

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.