Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc. Decreases Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc. reduced its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,591 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 620 shares during the quarter. Automatic Data Processing comprises 3.1% of Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $16,859,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter worth $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

NASDAQ ADP opened at $308.15 on Tuesday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $231.27 and a 12-month high of $311.67. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $297.56 and its 200-day moving average is $288.77. The company has a market capitalization of $125.56 billion, a PE ratio of 32.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.79. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders 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 2.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ADP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $293.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total transaction of $704,869.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,063 shares in the company, valued at $929,007.90. The trade was a 43.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total value of $106,366.46. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at $4,027,233.98. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,478 shares of company stock valued at $1,617,241 in the last 90 days. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Automatic Data Processing 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.