Avitas Wealth Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Avitas Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,900 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 55 shares during the period. Avitas Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $2,605,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 78.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective 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. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $293.55.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total transaction of $210,236.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 68,856 shares in the company, valued at $20,077,721.04. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,027,233.98. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,478 shares of company stock worth $1,617,241 in the last 90 days. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ:ADP opened at $304.67 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $297.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $285.26. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $231.27 and a one year high of $311.67.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.