Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Shares Sold by Sentry Investment Management LLC

Sentry Investment Management LLC decreased its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 9.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,161 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 232 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $503,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 19.3% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 134,223 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $30,532,000 after purchasing an additional 21,671 shares in the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 1st quarter worth approximately $571,000. Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 453 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $103,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 82.8% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 636 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $145,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 4.4% in the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,902 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $660,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Joseph Desilva sold 1,904 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total value of $485,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,380,645. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, VP Don Mcguire sold 11,333 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $2,776,585.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 19,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,876,970. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Joseph Desilva sold 1,904 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total transaction of $485,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,380,645. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,162 shares of company stock valued at $3,741,859 over the last three months. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $244.08 on Tuesday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $201.46 and a 1 year high of $256.84. The company has a market cap of $100.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $247.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $239.13.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.14% and a return on equity of 95.22%. The business had revenue of $4.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.96 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on ADP shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Bank of America raised shares of Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $217.00 to $243.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $254.58.

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.