Pacer Advisors Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Pacer Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 20.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 59,821 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 15,735 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $17,511,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter valued at $209,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 5.8% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 280,961 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $77,750,000 after buying an additional 15,340 shares in the last quarter. RIA Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter worth approximately $470,000. Dash Acquisitions Inc. raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 5.6% in the third quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. now owns 52,329 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,069,000 after acquiring an additional 2,781 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DRW Securities LLC purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter worth approximately $951,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

ADP stock opened at $298.31 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a market capitalization of $121.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.84, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $297.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $283.23. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $231.27 and a twelve month high of $309.63.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.08 earnings per share. The business’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 9.94 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.74%.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at $9,781,200. This represents a 54.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 42,129 shares of company stock worth $12,604,872 over the last 90 days. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on ADP. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group boosted their target price 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, Barclays upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $289.91.

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.