First Trust Advisors LP Trims Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

First Trust Advisors LP cut its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 994,615 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 6,606 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.24% of Automatic Data Processing worth $291,153,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Virtu Financial LLC grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 202.7% in the 3rd quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 4,870 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,348,000 after buying an additional 3,261 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter worth $310,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 7.0% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 15,384 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,257,000 after acquiring an additional 1,001 shares during the last quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 3.5% during the third quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 9,935 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,753,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 22.6% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,466 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,066,000 after purchasing an additional 1,378 shares during the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total transaction of $144,832.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,218,112.80. This trade represents a 6.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was 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 trade represents a 43.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,775 shares of company stock worth $1,447,893 over the last ninety days. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ADP. Barclays boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $302.30.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of ADP stock opened at $293.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market cap of $119.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.74. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $301.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $298.11. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $231.27 and a fifty-two week high of $322.84.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is presently 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.