Vista Investment Partners LLC Reduces Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Vista Investment Partners LLC reduced its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 25,493 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 35 shares during the quarter. Automatic Data Processing makes up 2.3% of Vista Investment Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Vista Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $7,463,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 71.0% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 15,514 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,703,000 after purchasing an additional 6,439 shares in the last quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 2,844.7% during the 2nd quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC now owns 29,005 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $6,923,000 after purchasing an additional 28,020 shares during the last quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 1,895 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $452,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Kathmere Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 35.7% in the 2nd quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 4,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,094,000 after purchasing an additional 1,205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Group LLC grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 11.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 14,870 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,549,000 after buying an additional 1,512 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $11,692,500.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 32,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,781,200. This represents a 54.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total value 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 42,129 shares of company stock valued at $12,604,872. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:ADP opened at $297.10 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $121.06 billion, a PE ratio of 31.71, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.79. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $297.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $282.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $231.27 and a 52-week high of $309.63.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. The company had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is presently 65.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com raised shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 19th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.91.

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.