Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Sells 355 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lessened its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,443 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 355 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $6,277,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ADP. Accredited Investors Inc. increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4,431.5% during the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,315,295 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $640,712,000 after buying an additional 2,264,202 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $342,942,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 41,710.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,087,814 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $160,920,000. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 332.3% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 623,341 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $172,497,000 after purchasing an additional 479,145 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ADP has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective 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. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.18.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 3.5 %

NASDAQ:ADP opened at $292.44 on Wednesday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $231.27 and a 52 week high of $322.84. The stock has a market cap of $119.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.49, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $302.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $294.33. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

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

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.23%.

Insider Activity

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 13,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total transaction of $704,869.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,063 shares in the company, valued at $929,007.90. This represents a 43.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,478 shares of company stock valued at $1,617,241 in the last ninety days. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.