KBC Group NV Reduces Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

KBC Group NV cut its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 83,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,103 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $23,028,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 70.7% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 638,507 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $152,405,000 after buying an additional 264,466 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 1.7% during the first quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 247,474 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $61,804,000 after acquiring an additional 4,253 shares in the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 23.8% in the second quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 26,610 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,352,000 after purchasing an additional 5,114 shares during the period. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $209,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2,917.1% in the 2nd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 4,224 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $997,000 after buying an additional 4,084 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ADP opened at $297.64 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $286.67 and its 200 day moving average price is $263.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $227.12 and a 1 year high of $309.37. The company has a market capitalization of $121.28 billion, a PE ratio of 31.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.79.

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. The company 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%. Automatic Data Processing’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.08 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. This is a boost from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 59.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.91.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.60, for a total value of $228,927.60. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 10,410 shares in the company, valued at $2,816,946. This trade represents a 7.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total transaction of $7,164,724.32. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 88,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,959,908.96. This represents a 23.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 97,792 shares of company stock worth $27,691,708. 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.