Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Shares Sold by Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. decreased its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 8,626,458 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 43,625 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $2,009,706,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 5.1% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,902,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,420,028,000 after purchasing an additional 288,234 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,242,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,261,327,000 after buying an additional 77,187 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 18.3% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,576,575 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $855,287,000 after buying an additional 553,946 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 40.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,128,701 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $752,703,000 after acquiring an additional 905,043 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,125,551 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $494,552,000 after acquiring an additional 99,731 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ADP has been the subject of several analyst reports. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $254.00 to $250.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $255.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.43, for a total transaction of $173,104.42. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,159,958.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 694 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.43, for a total value of $173,104.42. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,687 shares in the company, valued at $5,159,958.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Joseph Desilva sold 1,904 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total value of $485,520.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 17,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,380,645. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,966 shares of company stock worth $749,524 over the last quarter. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP traded down $2.47 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $242.65. 458,697 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,766,055. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $245.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $238.95. The firm has a market cap of $99.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.78. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $205.53 and a 12-month high of $256.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.79 by $0.09. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.56% and a return on equity of 93.09%. The company had revenue of $5.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.52 earnings per share. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.50%.

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.