Blair William & Co. IL Sells 4,528 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Blair William & Co. IL lowered its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 263,297 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,528 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL owned about 0.06% of Automatic Data Processing worth $77,075,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ADP. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at about $342,942,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 41,710.7% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,090,422 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $319,199,000 after purchasing an additional 1,087,814 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter valued at $160,920,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 332.3% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 623,341 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $172,497,000 after purchasing an additional 479,145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 3,120,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $910,972,000 after buying an additional 449,431 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $302.41 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $123.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $231.27 and a one year high of $322.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $303.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $295.96.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 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%. Analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

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 $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 64.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total value of $704,869.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,063 shares in the company, valued at $929,007.90. The trade was a 43.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total transaction of $144,832.60. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 7,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,218,112.80. The trade was a 6.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,951 shares of company stock worth $1,762,074. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on ADP. Barclays lifted their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price 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, StockNews.com cut shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $302.30.

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.