Ieq Capital LLC Sells 7,753 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Ieq Capital LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 30.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,769 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 7,753 shares during the quarter. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $5,202,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 2.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,334,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,098,541,000 after buying an additional 424,328 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 2.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,517,642 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,906,257,000 after buying an additional 286,080 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 1.3% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,238,526 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $896,197,000 after buying an additional 41,709 shares during the period. Accredited Investors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4,431.5% in the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,315,295 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $640,712,000 after purchasing an additional 2,264,202 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,252,807 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $623,419,000 after purchasing an additional 17,717 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total value of $210,236.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 68,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,077,721.04. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $929,007.90. This represents a 43.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,478 shares of company stock valued at $1,617,241 over the last 90 days. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $293.55.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

ADP stock opened at $310.76 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $126.62 billion, a PE ratio of 32.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.79. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $298.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $290.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $231.27 and a one year high of $313.72.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

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

Automatic Data Processing Company 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.