Qsemble Capital Management LP Sells 14,614 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Qsemble Capital Management LP cut its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 94.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 865 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 14,614 shares during the quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $239,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter worth about $221,000. Hancock Whitney Corp increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.4% in the third quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 9,307 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,576,000 after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 13.7% in the third quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 11,889 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,290,000 after purchasing an additional 1,433 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 38.8% in the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 694,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $192,136,000 after purchasing an additional 194,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DRW Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter worth about $951,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP opened at $306.92 on Thursday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $227.12 and a 1 year high of $309.63. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $291.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $267.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.06 billion, a PE ratio of 32.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.77 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.08 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current 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 issued a $1.54 dividend. This is a positive change from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is presently 59.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ADP shares. UBS Group lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.91.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 36,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,899,862.45. The trade was a 20.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $11,692,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 32,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,781,200. The trade was a 54.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 70,504 shares of company stock worth $20,298,056. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.