Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Sells 37 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC trimmed its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,557 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 37 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $456,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 3.4% during the third quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 1,054 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $292,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $482,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the period. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,902,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 923 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 22.1% during the third quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 221 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ADP shares. Barclays raised their price objective 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. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $289.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.15, for a total value of $305,322.05. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,140 shares in the company, valued at $1,756,961. This trade represents a 14.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 42,129 shares of company stock valued at $12,604,872 in the last quarter. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of ADP opened at $295.80 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $297.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $281.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $231.27 and a twelve month high of $309.63. The firm has a market cap of $120.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.57, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.79.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. The firm had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.08 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 65.74%.

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.