Wesbanco Bank Inc. Lowers Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Wesbanco Bank Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,066 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 589 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $2,947,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ADP. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,334,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,098,541,000 after buying an additional 424,328 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.8% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,517,642 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,906,257,000 after acquiring an additional 286,080 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake 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 worth $964,989,000 after acquiring an additional 435,093 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.1% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,548,165 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $846,912,000 after purchasing an additional 139,561 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,238,526 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $896,197,000 after purchasing an additional 41,709 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, January 19th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $289.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at $9,781,200. This represents a 54.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.15, for a total transaction of $305,322.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,756,961. This trade represents a 14.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 42,129 shares of company stock worth $12,604,872 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

NASDAQ ADP opened at $295.80 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $297.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $281.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a market cap of $120.53 billion, a PE ratio of 31.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $231.27 and a twelve month high of $309.63.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.77 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.08 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 65.74%.

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.