Farmers Trust Co. Sells 41 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Farmers Trust Co. decreased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,811 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 41 shares during the quarter. Farmers Trust Co.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $530,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.3% in the second quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 21,259 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,074,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 11.2% in the 2nd quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 9,543 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,278,000 after purchasing an additional 963 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,153 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,946,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Lane & Associates LLC purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the second quarter valued at about $447,000. Finally, LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 28.6% in the second quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. now owns 8,810 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,103,000 after purchasing an additional 1,960 shares during the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total value of $106,366.46. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at $4,027,233.98. The trade was a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $11,692,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,062 shares of company stock valued at $12,299,550 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 1.0 %

ADP stock traded up $2.95 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $291.35. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 632,124 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,131,903. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $231.27 and a 1 year high of $309.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.09, a PEG ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $298.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $277.66. 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 (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.08 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. This is an increase from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on ADP. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Company 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.