Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Shares Sold by Mizuho Markets Americas LLC

Mizuho Markets Americas LLC trimmed its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 8.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm 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 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 70.7% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 638,507 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $152,405,000 after acquiring an additional 264,466 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 247,474 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $61,804,000 after purchasing an additional 4,253 shares during the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 23.8% during the 2nd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 26,610 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,352,000 after purchasing an additional 5,114 shares during the period. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth $209,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 2,917.1% in the second 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. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.60, for a total transaction of $228,927.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 10,410 shares in the company, valued at $2,816,946. The trade was a 7.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were 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 owns 36,741 shares in the company, valued at $9,899,862.45. This trade represents a 20.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 97,792 shares of company stock valued at $27,691,708. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ADP shares. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of ADP stock opened at $297.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market cap of $121.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $227.12 and a one year high of $309.37. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $287.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $263.87.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.77 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.08 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

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

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.