Martingale Asset Management L P Reduces Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Martingale Asset Management L P decreased its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 5.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 92,166 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5,581 shares during the quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $26,980,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ADP. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 121.8% during the 4th quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ADP shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has 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, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $302.30.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 6,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,756,961. This represents a 14.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was 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 owns 3,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $929,007.90. This represents a 43.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 5,364 shares of company stock worth $1,613,094. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

ADP opened at $276.76 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $112.77 billion, a PE ratio of 28.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $303.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $297.18. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $231.27 and a 1 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.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.23%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.