First Merchants Corp Has $14.36 Million Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

First Merchants Corp trimmed its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 49,063 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 318 shares during the period. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $14,362,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 22.9% in the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,618 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,278,000 after buying an additional 861 shares during the period. Creative Planning raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 127,582 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,306,000 after acquiring an additional 3,456 shares during the period. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd now owns 24,542 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,792,000 after purchasing an additional 2,504 shares during the last quarter. Culbertson A N & Co. Inc. boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 3.5% during the third quarter. Culbertson A N & Co. Inc. now owns 25,153 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,961,000 after purchasing an additional 859 shares during the period. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter worth $827,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $293.55.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ADP opened at $310.22 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $297.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $287.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $126.40 billion, a PE ratio of 32.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $231.27 and a fifty-two week high of $311.67.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is presently 64.23%.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 13,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. The trade was a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total value of $704,869.20. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 3,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $929,007.90. This represents a 43.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,478 shares of company stock valued at $1,617,241. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.