Ghe LLC Has $4.88 Million Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Ghe LLC lowered its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,628 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 53 shares during the period. Automatic Data Processing makes up about 1.9% of Ghe LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Ghe LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $4,878,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. 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. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $293.55.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ADP opened at $310.76 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $298.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $290.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a market cap of $126.62 billion, a PE ratio of 32.40, a PEG ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $231.27 and a 52-week high of $313.72.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is currently 64.23%.

Insider Activity

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total transaction of $704,869.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $929,007.90. The trade was a 43.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,027,233.98. The trade was a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,478 shares of company stock worth $1,617,241 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.