Palisade Asset Management LLC Reduces Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Palisade Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 62,641 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 269 shares during the quarter. Automatic Data Processing makes up 1.7% of Palisade Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Palisade Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $17,335,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 12.0% in 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 buying an additional 435,093 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.1% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,548,165 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $846,912,000 after acquiring an additional 139,561 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its stake 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 during the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 4,431.5% during the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,315,295 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $640,712,000 after purchasing an additional 2,264,202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 13.3% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,296,344 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $548,099,000 after purchasing an additional 269,986 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on ADP. Barclays lifted their target price 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. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price 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. Bank of America lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of ADP stock opened at $305.15 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $289.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $265.87. The company has a market capitalization of $124.34 billion, a PE ratio of 32.57, a price-to-earnings-growth 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.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.08 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This is a positive change from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is 59.77%.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total value of $7,164,724.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 88,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,959,908.96. The trade was a 23.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Don Mcguire sold 3,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total transaction of $872,254.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 41,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,440,548.48. The trade was a 7.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 96,946 shares of company stock valued at $27,462,781. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.