Main Street Research LLC Reduces Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Main Street Research LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,396 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 184 shares during the period. Main Street Research LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $796,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ADP. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the company from $217.00 to $243.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $254.58.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Don Mcguire sold 11,333 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $2,776,585.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 19,906 shares in the company, valued at $4,876,970. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, VP Don Mcguire sold 11,333 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $2,776,585.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 19,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,876,970. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $215,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,285 shares in the company, valued at $2,071,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 15,162 shares of company stock worth $3,741,859 over the last ninety days. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 0.0 %

Automatic Data Processing stock traded down $0.06 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $244.02. The company had a trading volume of 685,492 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,822,517. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $201.46 and a 12-month high of $256.84. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $247.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $239.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.41, a PEG ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.14% and a return on equity of 95.22%. The firm had revenue of $4.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.65 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.96 earnings per share. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.14 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 Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.29%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.19%.

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.