West Paces Advisors Inc. Cuts Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

West Paces Advisors Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,230 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 58 shares during the quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $752,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of ADP stock traded up $0.13 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $244.21. The company had a trading volume of 1,395,727 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,832,796. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $201.46 and a fifty-two week high of $256.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company’s fifty day moving average is $247.82 and its 200 day moving average is $239.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $100.32 billion, a PE ratio of 28.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.78.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $4.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.65 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 95.22% and a net margin of 19.14%. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.96 EPS. Research analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.29%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ADP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America raised Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $217.00 to $243.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Wolfe Research upgraded Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $254.58.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP Don Mcguire sold 11,333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $2,776,585.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 19,906 shares in the company, valued at $4,876,970. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 694 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.43, for a total transaction of $173,104.42. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,159,958.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Don Mcguire sold 11,333 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $2,776,585.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 19,906 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,876,970. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,162 shares of company stock valued at $3,741,859 in the last three months. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Automatic Data Processing 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.