King Luther Capital Management Corp Cuts Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

King Luther Capital Management Corp lessened its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 2.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,625 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,470 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $18,991,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 78.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the first quarter valued at $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ADP shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.91.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $11,692,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at $9,781,200. The trade was a 54.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total value of $2,479,748.35. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 36,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders have sold 96,946 shares of company stock worth $27,462,781 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

ADP stock opened at $304.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market cap of $124.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $227.12 and a 1 year high of $309.37. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $288.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $265.44.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.08 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. This is a positive change from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.