CCLA Investment Management Sells 1,109 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Key Points

• CCLA Investment Management reduced its stake in Automatic Data Processing (ADP) by 7.8%, resulting in holdings worth approximately $4.02 million after selling 1,109 shares in the first quarter.
• Analysts have set varied price targets for ADP, with Mizuho increasing its target from $321 to $332 while UBS lowered its expectation from $323 to $315, reflecting a mixed outlook on the stock.
• Automatic Data Processing reported a quarterly earnings per share of $2.26, exceeding analysts' expectations, with a net margin of 19.84% and revenue of $5.13 billion, indicating a year-over-year revenue growth of 6.3%.

CCLA Investment Management reduced its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 7.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,156 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,109 shares during the quarter. CCLA Investment Management's holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $4,018,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sentinus LLC lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Sentinus LLC now owns 1,548 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $453,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 3,686 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,079,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Detalus Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.4% in the first quarter. Detalus Advisors LLC now owns 1,566 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $478,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Main Street Group LTD lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 50.7% in the 4th quarter. Main Street Group LTD now owns 113 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, Howard Financial Services LTD. lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 1,735 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $530,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ADP shares. TD Securities lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. UBS Group dropped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $323.00 to $315.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised Automatic Data Processing to a "hold" rating and set a $340.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $305.00 to $318.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $311.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $314.33.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ADP traded up $1.26 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $302.90. 540,671 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,752,794. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The business's fifty day moving average price is $308.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $305.30. The company has a market cap of $122.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.35, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.81. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $258.51 and a 12-month high of $329.93.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $5.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.05 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 72.84% and a net margin of 19.84%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Automatic Data Processing's payout ratio is currently 61.72%.

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.