Intech Investment Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Intech Investment Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 54.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 70,760 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 86,138 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $16,485,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Heritage Investment Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Heritage Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,201 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $513,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 5,254 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,224,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. now owns 8,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,065,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,151 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $999,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 4,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,067,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 694 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.43, for a total value of $173,104.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,159,958.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $267.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $255.42.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

NASDAQ ADP traded down $2.59 on Friday, hitting $248.90. 973,940 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,279,904. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $205.53 and a 1-year high of $256.84. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $246.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $241.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.87 billion, a PE ratio of 27.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.78.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.79 by $0.09. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.56% and a return on equity of 93.09%. The business had revenue of $5.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.52 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.17 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.50%.

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.