Clearstead Trust LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Clearstead Trust LLC cut its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 27,396 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,873 shares during the quarter. Automatic Data Processing comprises about 1.7% of Clearstead Trust LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Clearstead Trust LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $6,382,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,670,083 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,085,849,000 after purchasing an additional 198,008 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 5.1% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,902,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,420,028,000 after purchasing an additional 288,234 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 1.5% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,242,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,261,327,000 after buying an additional 77,187 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,576,575 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $855,287,000 after purchasing an additional 553,946 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 40.7% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,128,701 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $752,703,000 after buying an additional 905,043 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

NASDAQ ADP traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $241.89. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,491,532 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,451,137. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market cap of $99.37 billion, a PE ratio of 27.00, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s 50-day moving average is $245.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $239.08. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $205.53 and a fifty-two week high of $256.84.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.88 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $5.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.52 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.15 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Bank of America upgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $217.00 to $243.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $254.00 to $250.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $255.42.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.01, for a total transaction of $90,899.68. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 20,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,018,996.19. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.01, for a total value of $90,899.68. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 20,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,018,996.19. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $215,750.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,071,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 3,829 shares of company stock worth $965,274 over the last three months. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.