Signet Financial Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Signet Financial Management LLC lessened its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,097 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 96 shares during the quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $722,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 11,010,014 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,629,852,000 after acquiring an additional 794,328 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,670,083 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,085,849,000 after acquiring an additional 198,008 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 94,265.5% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,770,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,617,256,000 after acquiring an additional 6,763,553 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,902,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,420,028,000 after acquiring an additional 288,234 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,242,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,261,327,000 after acquiring an additional 77,187 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Mizuho boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Bank of America raised Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $217.00 to $243.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Two equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $254.58.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $215,750.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,071,250. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $215,750.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,071,250. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Joseph Desilva sold 1,904 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total transaction of $485,520.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 17,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,380,645. 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 ninety days. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ ADP opened at $244.21 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $247.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $239.16. The company has a market cap of $100.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.78. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $201.46 and a 12-month high of $256.84.

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

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

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

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.