Private Trust Co. NA Trims Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Private Trust Co. NA lowered its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 6.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,830 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 664 shares during the period. Private Trust Co. NA’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $2,877,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% in 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 during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter worth about $35,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of ADP stock opened at $311.30 on Friday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $231.27 and a 1 year high of $315.29. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $300.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $291.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company has a market cap of $126.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.46, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 64.23%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were 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 owns 13,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,027,233.98. The trade was a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total transaction of $210,236.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 68,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,077,721.04. This trade represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,478 shares of company stock valued at $1,617,241 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ADP. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Mizuho increased their price target 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. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $293.55.

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.