Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 236,926 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. decreased its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 37.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 401,581 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 236,926 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $111,130,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,769,440 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,932,020,000 after purchasing an additional 173,298 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 12.0% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,065,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $964,989,000 after purchasing an additional 435,093 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.3% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,625,186 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $905,354,000 after purchasing an additional 81,869 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.1% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,548,165 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $846,912,000 after purchasing an additional 139,561 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 27.7% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,715,382 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $678,601,000 after purchasing an additional 589,831 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

ADP traded down $0.32 during trading on Thursday, reaching $289.72. 289,209 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,621,460. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $205.53 and a fifty-two week high of $294.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $278.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $257.89. The company has a market capitalization of $118.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.38, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $4.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.74 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.54% and a return on equity of 89.20%. The business’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.93%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is presently 62.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, CEO Maria Black sold 19,147 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total transaction of $5,253,553.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 92,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,464,384.66. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Automatic Data Processing news, CEO Maria Black sold 19,147 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total transaction of $5,253,553.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 92,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,464,384.66. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total value of $7,164,724.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 88,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,959,908.96. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 58,817 shares of company stock valued at $15,999,208. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ADP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $282.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Citigroup raised 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 note on Wednesday, September 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $275.33.

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.