CENTRAL TRUST Co Lowers Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

CENTRAL TRUST Co trimmed its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 34,655 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 128 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $9,590,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 14.2% during the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 801,857 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $200,256,000 after buying an additional 99,515 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 70.7% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 638,507 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $152,405,000 after buying an additional 264,466 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 195.1% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 51,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,888,000 after buying an additional 34,118 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the first quarter worth $2,924,000. Finally, LVW Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 23.8% in the first quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 3,854 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $962,000 after purchasing an additional 740 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 0.4 %

ADP opened at $290.04 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $118.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $205.53 and a one year high of $294.18. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $278.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $257.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01.

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

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.60, for a total value of $228,927.60. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 10,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,816,946. The trade was 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 the SEC website. 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 41,696 shares in the company, valued at $11,440,548.48. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.60, for a total value of $228,927.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,816,946. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 58,817 shares of company stock valued at $15,999,208. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ADP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $282.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $275.33.

Automatic Data Processing Company 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.