Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc. lowered its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 9.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 743 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 79 shares during the quarter. Jackson Grant Investment Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $218,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ADP. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 280,961 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $77,750,000 after buying an additional 15,340 shares in the last quarter. RIA Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter valued at $470,000. Dash Acquisitions Inc. boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. now owns 52,329 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,069,000 after buying an additional 2,781 shares during the period. Finally, DRW Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter worth $951,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total value of $210,236.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 68,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,077,721.04. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP David Foskett sold 1,004 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.29, for a total transaction of $290,447.16. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,723,589.82. This represents a 14.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,478 shares of company stock worth $1,617,241. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP opened at $308.15 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $297.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $285.67. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $231.27 and a 52 week high of $311.67. 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 has a market capitalization of $125.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.13, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ADP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $293.55.

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.