Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Stake Cut by Patten & Patten Inc. TN

Patten & Patten Inc. TN reduced its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,548 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Patten & Patten Inc. TN’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,624,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. one8zero8 LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth about $966,000. Choate Investment Advisors raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Choate Investment Advisors now owns 43,536 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,745,000 after purchasing an additional 5,291 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Enterprises LLC raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Enterprises LLC now owns 1,200 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 298,206 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $87,294,000 after purchasing an additional 15,567 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 9.1% during the 4th quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 6,935 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,030,000 after acquiring an additional 579 shares during the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total value of $144,832.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,218,112.80. The trade was a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,951 shares of company stock valued at $1,762,074 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of ADP opened at $291.76 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $302.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $294.74. The company has a market cap of $118.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.42, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $231.27 and a 52-week high of $322.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. Analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ADP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two equities 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.18.

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.