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

Conning Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 5.7% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 139,234 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 8,368 shares during the quarter. Conning Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $38,530,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Optas LLC raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Optas LLC now owns 1,077 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $298,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 174.2% during the 3rd quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 724 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $200,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. First Interstate Bank increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. First Interstate Bank now owns 3,562 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $986,000 after purchasing an additional 478 shares in the last quarter. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 6.0% in the third quarter. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,918 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $531,000 after buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco LLC grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.8% during the third quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 6,001 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,661,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP opened at $288.18 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $281.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $260.01. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $117.53 billion, a PE ratio of 30.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $211.52 and a twelve month high of $294.18.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.12. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. The business had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.08 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.98 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total transaction of $2,479,748.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,899,862.45. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, VP Don Mcguire sold 3,179 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total transaction of $872,254.02. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 41,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,440,548.48. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale 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 company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 58,817 shares of company stock worth $15,999,208 over the last quarter. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ADP. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. 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 report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $285.09.

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.