Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC Sells 276 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 28,141 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 276 shares during the period. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $8,238,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ADP. D Orazio & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc. now owns 2,094 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $613,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,930 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,078,000 after purchasing an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at $128,000. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 1,797 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $526,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Allan Corp raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. William Allan Corp now owns 21,368 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $6,255,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ ADP opened at $305.97 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $297.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $286.39. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $231.27 and a twelve month 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 company has a market capitalization of $124.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.91, a PEG ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted 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 net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. Research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Mizuho increased 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. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $293.55.

Insider Activity

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were 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 directly owns 3,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $929,007.90. This represents a 43.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.15, for a total value of $305,322.05. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,756,961. The trade was a 14.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,478 shares of company stock valued at $1,617,241. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

About Automatic Data Processing

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.