Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. Reduces Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. lessened its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 19,320 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 207 shares during the quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $5,663,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 78.5% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ADP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two research 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.91.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $11,692,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 32,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,781,200. This represents a 54.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total value of $106,366.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at $4,027,233.98. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 42,129 shares of company stock worth $12,604,872. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of ADP stock opened at $297.10 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $297.14 and a 200-day moving average of $281.66. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $231.27 and a 12 month high of $309.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $121.06 billion, a PE ratio of 31.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.08 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current 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 given a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.74%.

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.