Blair William & Co. IL Sells 4,528 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Blair William & Co. IL decreased its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 263,297 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,528 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $77,075,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ADP. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth approximately $342,942,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 41,710.7% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,090,422 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $319,199,000 after purchasing an additional 1,087,814 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $160,920,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 332.3% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 623,341 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $172,497,000 after buying an additional 479,145 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 3,120,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $910,972,000 after acquiring an additional 449,431 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of ADP opened at $302.41 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $303.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $295.96. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $231.27 and a 12 month high of $322.84. The firm has a market cap of $123.22 billion, a PE ratio of 31.53, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. Equities research 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 64.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ADP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $302.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of the company’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 directly owns 7,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,218,112.80. This represents a 6.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,756,961. This represents a 14.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,951 shares of company stock worth $1,762,074 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.