Allstate Corp Sells 205 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Allstate Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 12.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,383 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 205 shares during the period. Allstate Corp’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $322,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ADP. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 242.1% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 366 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $88,000 after buying an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter worth $1,102,000. Ieq Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 19,144 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,606,000 after purchasing an additional 846 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 28.0% in the 3rd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 5,518 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,327,000 after purchasing an additional 1,207 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lincoln National Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 9,814 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,361,000 after purchasing an additional 583 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 value of $90,899.68. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 20,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,018,996.19. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock traded down $1.52 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $249.97. 183,555 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,678,202. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $205.53 and a 12-month high of $256.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.07, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $246.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $240.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.79 by $0.09. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 93.09% and a net margin of 19.56%. The company had revenue of $5.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.52 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ADP. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $254.00 to $250.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $253.00 to $251.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $255.42.

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.