Canopy Partners LLC Sells 45 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Canopy Partners LLC reduced its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,077 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 45 shares during the quarter. Automatic Data Processing comprises about 0.8% of Canopy Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Canopy Partners LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,958,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ADP. Accredited Investors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4,431.5% in the 3rd 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 during the period. BlueSpruce Investments LP purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 1st quarter valued at $365,757,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 28,478.6% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,194,587 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,305,780,000 after acquiring an additional 1,190,407 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 238.1% in the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 784,003 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $195,797,000 after acquiring an additional 552,096 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 242.4% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 644,135 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $153,749,000 after acquiring an additional 456,027 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

NASDAQ ADP opened at $305.15 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.57, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $227.12 and a twelve month high of $309.37. 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 $289.55 and a 200 day moving average of $265.87.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.08 EPS. Automatic Data Processing’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 59.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays boosted their target price on 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 target on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at $9,781,200. This represents a 54.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 36,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,899,862.45. This trade represents a 20.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 96,946 shares of company stock worth $27,462,781. Corporate 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.