First Trust Advisors LP Cuts Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

First Trust Advisors LP decreased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 994,615 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,606 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $291,153,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 121.8% in the 4th quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total value of $458,070.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 12,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,686,852.74. The trade was a 11.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total transaction of $144,832.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,218,112.80. This trade represents a 6.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 4,775 shares of company stock valued at $1,447,893. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $293.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The company has a fifty day moving average of $301.27 and a 200 day moving average of $298.11. The company has a market capitalization of $119.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.74. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $231.27 and a fifty-two week high of $322.84.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 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, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is 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.