Coastline Trust Co Reduces Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Coastline Trust Co lessened its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,131 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 755 shares during the quarter. Coastline Trust Co’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $4,464,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 78.5% during the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the first quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 19,147 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total value of $5,253,553.86. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 92,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,464,384.66. This represents a 17.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 97,792 shares of company stock worth $27,691,708. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America increased 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 note on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays raised their price target on 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 downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

ADP stock opened at $297.64 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $287.23 and a 200-day moving average of $263.87. The company has a market cap of $121.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.77, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.79. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $227.12 and a 12-month high of $309.37.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $4.83 billion during 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%. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors 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 yield of 2.07%. This is a boost from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.77%.

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.