Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. Sells 83 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. decreased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 8.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 850 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 83 shares during the quarter. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $249,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 47,375 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $13,110,000 after acquiring an additional 2,810 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 6,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,682,000 after buying an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 23.4% in the 3rd quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC now owns 264 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 19.7% in the 3rd quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,227 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $340,000 after buying an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 4,675 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,294,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

ADP stock opened at $312.20 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $299.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $290.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market cap of $127.21 billion, a PE ratio of 32.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $231.27 and a 1-year high of $314.06.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is 64.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Mizuho raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $293.55.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total value of $106,366.46. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. The trade was a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total value of $210,236.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,077,721.04. This represents a 1.04 % 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 company insiders.

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.