Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. Sells 3,117 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lowered its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 252,442 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,117 shares during the quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. owned 0.06% of Automatic Data Processing worth $69,857,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ADP. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,065,308 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $964,989,000 after purchasing an additional 435,093 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,548,165 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $846,912,000 after buying an additional 139,561 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,238,526 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $896,197,000 after buying an additional 41,709 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% during the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 2,556,377 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $610,182,000 after acquiring an additional 9,464 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Accredited Investors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4,431.5% during the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,315,295 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $640,712,000 after acquiring an additional 2,264,202 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ADP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two 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, Automatic Data Processing has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

ADP opened at $306.93 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $125.06 billion, a PE ratio of 32.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $292.45 and a 200-day moving average price of $267.99. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $227.12 and a 1 year high of $309.63. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.12. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. The business had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.08 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.77%.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other 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 value 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Don Mcguire sold 3,179 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total transaction of $872,254.02. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 41,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,440,548.48. This trade represents a 7.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 70,504 shares of company stock worth $20,298,056 over the last quarter. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Automatic Data Processing

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.