Pegasus Partners Ltd. Lowers Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Pegasus Partners Ltd. lessened its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 16.3% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,781 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,321 shares during the quarter. Pegasus Partners Ltd.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,877,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ADP. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 78.5% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. 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 research report on Thursday, August 1st. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup increased 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $304.73 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $284.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $261.82. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $225.38 and a 12 month high of $306.92. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $124.17 billion, a PE ratio of 32.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.08 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.02%. This is an increase from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.77%.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $11,692,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,781,200. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total transaction of $7,164,724.32. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 88,426 shares in the company, valued at $23,959,908.96. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $11,692,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,781,200. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 97,792 shares of company stock valued at $27,691,708 in the last ninety days. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.