Blueshift Asset Management LLC Sells 5,103 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 78.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,399 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5,103 shares during the period. Blueshift Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $387,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ADP. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 8.6% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 55,611 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,389,000 after purchasing an additional 4,405 shares in the last quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter valued at $995,000. Shum Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter worth $276,000. Avestar Capital LLC increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 2,180 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $603,000 after buying an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 8.3% during the third quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,564 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $710,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on ADP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Mizuho lifted their price objective 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. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.91.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $11,692,500.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,781,200. This represents a 54.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total value of $2,479,748.35. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 36,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,899,862.45. This represents a 20.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 70,504 shares of company stock worth $20,298,056. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 0.3 %

ADP opened at $306.92 on Friday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $227.12 and a 12 month high of $309.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $291.84 and a 200 day moving average of $267.58. The firm has a market cap of $125.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.12. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. The firm had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.08 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. This is an increase from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.77%.

Automatic Data Processing 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.