Independent Advisor Alliance Sells 758 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Independent Advisor Alliance reduced its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm 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 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 70.7% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 638,507 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $152,405,000 after acquiring an additional 264,466 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 23.8% in the 2nd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 26,610 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,352,000 after purchasing an additional 5,114 shares during the period. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter valued at $209,000. ORG Partners LLC boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 2,917.1% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 4,224 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $997,000 after purchasing an additional 4,084 shares during the period. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter valued at $470,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ADP opened at $304.67 on Tuesday. 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 fifty-two week low of $227.12 and a fifty-two week high of $309.37. The company has a market cap of $124.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.51, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $290.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $266.60.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.08 EPS. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS 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 issued 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 boost from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 59.77%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on ADP shares. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. 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 research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $289.91.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,781,200. This trade represents a 54.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 36,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,899,862.45. This represents a 20.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 70,504 shares of company stock valued at $20,298,056. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

About Automatic Data Processing

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.