Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Shares Sold by Motco

Motco cut its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,687 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 87 shares during the period. Motco’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $787,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Golden State Equity Partners acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter valued at about $553,000. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.9% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 30,387 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,409,000 after buying an additional 552 shares during the period. Diversify Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 18.5% in the 3rd quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,570 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,616,000 after buying an additional 869 shares in the last quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 1,235 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $343,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JFS Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 72.8% in the 3rd quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,709 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $473,000 after acquiring an additional 720 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total transaction of $210,236.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,856 shares in the company, valued at $20,077,721.04. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total value of $704,869.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,063 shares in the company, valued at $929,007.90. This represents a 43.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,478 shares of company stock valued at $1,617,241 in the last 90 days. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ADP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $293.55.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ADP opened at $311.30 on Friday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $231.27 and a 52-week high of $315.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $126.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.46, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $300.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $291.53.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.23%.

Automatic Data Processing Company 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.