Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Stake Reduced by Court Place Advisors LLC

Court Place Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 64,849 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,327 shares during the quarter. Automatic Data Processing makes up approximately 6.2% of Court Place Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Court Place Advisors LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $18,983,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its stake 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 valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 78.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. TD Cowen increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP opened at $300.15 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $297.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $282.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company has a market capitalization of $122.30 billion, a PE ratio of 32.03, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $231.27 and a 1-year high of $309.63.

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

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

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 given a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.15, for a total transaction of $305,322.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,756,961. The trade was a 14.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,781,200. This trade represents a 54.45 % decrease in their position. 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 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.