Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. Sells 51 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. reduced its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,929 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 51 shares during the period. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $2,321,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 1,054 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $292,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.1% during the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $482,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% during the third quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,902,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% in the second quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 5,698 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,360,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Austin Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 923 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $255,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on ADP. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $289.91.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,027,233.98. The trade was a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $11,692,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 32,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,781,200. This trade represents a 54.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

ADP traded down $4.56 on Monday, reaching $287.13. 1,527,417 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,004,607. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $298.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $277.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $116.99 billion, a PE ratio of 30.64, a PEG ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $231.27 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. The firm had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.15%. This is a positive change from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.74%.

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.