Vertex Planning Partners LLC Sells 96 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Vertex Planning Partners LLC decreased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 11.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 769 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 96 shares during the quarter. Vertex Planning Partners LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $213,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 93.4% in the first quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 88,000 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $21,977,000 after purchasing an additional 42,495 shares during the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 10,374 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,591,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. InterOcean Capital Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 23.2% in the 1st quarter. InterOcean Capital Group LLC now owns 4,846 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,210,000 after purchasing an additional 912 shares during the period. Natixis lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 232.5% in the 1st quarter. Natixis now owns 39,723 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,920,000 after purchasing an additional 27,778 shares during the period. Finally, Ossiam grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 1,487.5% during the first quarter. Ossiam now owns 124,236 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,027,000 after buying an additional 116,410 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.1 %

Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $297.89 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.38 billion, a PE ratio of 31.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $287.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $264.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $227.12 and a 12 month high of $309.37.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.08 EPS. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. This is a positive change from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on ADP shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Citigroup raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. 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 price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.91.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.60, for a total value of $228,927.60. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 10,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,816,946. The trade was a 7.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $11,692,500.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 32,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,781,200. This trade represents a 54.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 97,792 shares of company stock worth $27,691,708. 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.