Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC Sells 65 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,258 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 65 shares during the quarter. Sand Hill Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $661,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 99.8% in the fourth quarter. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC now owns 31,571 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $9,242,000 after purchasing an additional 15,771 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 117.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 704,099 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $206,111,000 after buying an additional 380,834 shares during the period. FIL Ltd lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 158.1% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 11,310 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,311,000 after buying an additional 6,928 shares during the period. Shelton Capital Management grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 24.4% in the 4th quarter. Shelton Capital Management now owns 64,467 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $18,871,000 after buying an additional 12,661 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canopy Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Canopy Partners LLC now owns 8,385 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,455,000 after buying an additional 1,308 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on ADP shares. Barclays upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $302.30.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total transaction of $144,832.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,218,112.80. This trade represents a 6.13 % 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 Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 5,364 shares of company stock worth $1,613,094. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

ADP opened at $281.22 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $114.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.32, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.74. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $304.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $297.33. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $231.27 and a 1-year high of $322.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. On average, analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.23%.

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.