Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Shares Sold by Tradewinds LLC.

Tradewinds LLC. decreased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,796 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 147 shares during the quarter. Tradewinds LLC.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $854,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,731,270 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $11,923,265,000 after purchasing an additional 277,324 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.4% in the 3rd 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 boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 2.8% during the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 286,080 shares during the period. Amundi grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 3,120,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $910,972,000 after acquiring an additional 449,431 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,321,849 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $679,675,000 after purchasing an additional 69,042 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.15, for a total transaction of $305,322.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,756,961. This represents a 14.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total value of $704,869.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,063 shares in the company, valued at $929,007.90. This represents a 43.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,951 shares of company stock valued at $1,762,074 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ADP has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of 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 upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $302.30.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 1.6 %

ADP opened at $305.53 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $124.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $231.27 and a 52 week high of $322.84. The business’s 50 day moving average is $304.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $296.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.23%.

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.