Conning Inc. Sells 11,082 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Conning Inc. lowered its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 8.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 114,488 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 11,082 shares during the quarter. Conning Inc.'s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $34,980,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,731,270 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $11,923,265,000 after buying an additional 277,324 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,583,607 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $3,098,305,000 after buying an additional 65,965 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,174,419 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,807,438,000 after buying an additional 902,354 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 26.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,136,763 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,796,415,000 after buying an additional 1,299,390 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,886,552 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,137,710,000 after buying an additional 219,032 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ADP shares. UBS Group dropped their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Mizuho increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $321.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $307.08.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Christopher D'ambrosio sold 478 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.14, for a total value of $140,120.92. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 7,364 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,158,682.96. This trade represents a 6.10% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 1.3%

ADP stock traded up $3.91 on Friday, reaching $308.96. 1,393,190 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,714,041. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $231.27 and a one year high of $329.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 1.02 and a quick ratio of 1.02. The company has a market cap of $125.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.76. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $311.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $303.33.

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

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.