Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Has $5.02 Million Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. cut its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 17.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,023 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,520 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $5,018,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Keener Financial Planning LLC increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 230.3% during the first quarter. Keener Financial Planning LLC now owns 109 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. New Millennium Group LLC bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the second quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of ADP stock opened at $276.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a market capitalization of $113.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.85, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $205.53 and a 52-week high of $281.54. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $264.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $251.51.

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

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were 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 $2,816,946. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.60, for a total transaction of $228,927.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,816,946. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 88,426 shares in the company, valued at $23,959,908.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 58,817 shares of company stock valued at $15,999,208. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ADP. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $267.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $265.36.

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.