Holderness Investments Co. Sells 50 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Holderness Investments Co. lowered its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 5.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 840 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 50 shares during the quarter. Holderness Investments Co.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $200,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlueSpruce Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 1st quarter valued at $365,757,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 22.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,543,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $825,487,000 after acquiring an additional 649,791 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 589,831 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 238.1% in the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 784,003 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $195,797,000 after acquiring an additional 552,096 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,596,142 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,224,713,000 after purchasing an additional 412,434 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of ADP opened at $276.41 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $113.13 billion, a PE ratio of 30.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $264.76 and a 200-day moving average of $251.61. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $205.53 and a one year high of $281.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $4.80 billion during 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%. Automatic Data Processing’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 value of $7,164,724.32. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 88,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,959,908.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, VP Don Mcguire sold 3,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total value of $872,254.02. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 41,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,440,548.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total value of $7,164,724.32. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 88,426 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,959,908.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 58,817 shares of company stock valued at $15,999,208 over the last ninety days. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ADP shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $267.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $265.36.

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.