Troy Asset Management Ltd lowered its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 235,841 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 21,071 shares during the period. Automatic Data Processing accounts for about 2.1% of Troy Asset Management Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Troy Asset Management Ltd owned about 0.06% of Automatic Data Processing worth $65,264,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 14.2% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 801,857 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $200,256,000 after buying an additional 99,515 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 70.7% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 638,507 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $152,405,000 after purchasing an additional 264,466 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 247,474 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $61,804,000 after purchasing an additional 4,253 shares in the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 23.8% in the 2nd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 26,610 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $6,352,000 after buying an additional 5,114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter worth approximately $209,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $304.73 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $225.38 and a 52 week high of $306.92. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $284.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $261.82. The company has a market capitalization of $124.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.52, a PEG ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. The business had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.08 EPS. The company's revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. This is a boost from Automatic Data Processing's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Automatic Data Processing's payout ratio is presently 59.77%.

In other news, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total value of $7,164,724.32. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 88,426 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,959,908.96. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total value of $7,164,724.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 88,426 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,959,908.96. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.60, for a total transaction of $228,927.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 10,410 shares in the company, valued at $2,816,946. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 97,792 shares of company stock valued at $27,691,708 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

ADP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Citigroup raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $289.91.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on ADP

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].

Before you consider Automatic Data Processing, you'll want to hear this.

MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Automatic Data Processing wasn't on the list.

While Automatic Data Processing currently has a "Hold" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.