Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Reduces Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lowered its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 97.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,475 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 487,018 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $4,423,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Main Street Group LTD grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 50.7% during the fourth quarter. Main Street Group LTD now owns 113 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 121.8% during the 4th quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 122 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Banque de Luxembourg S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ADP has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. TD Securities boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $321.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $323.00 to $315.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $307.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total value of $458,070.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,686,852.74. This trade represents a 11.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Christopher D'ambrosio sold 478 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.14, for a total value of $140,120.92. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,158,682.96. This represents a 6.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

NASDAQ ADP traded down $0.29 on Tuesday, reaching $307.62. The company had a trading volume of 2,257,863 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,710,351. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.87 billion, a PE ratio of 31.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $231.27 and a 12 month high of $329.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $308.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $302.86.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $5.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.49 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 77.33% and a net margin of 19.79%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.88 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio is presently 63.05%.

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.