Blueshift Asset Management LLC Has $841,000 Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Blueshift Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 105.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,874 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,475 shares during the period. Blueshift Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $841,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 4.2% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 125,845 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,834,000 after acquiring an additional 5,076 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 2,248.7% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 3,711 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,027,000 after acquiring an additional 3,553 shares during the period. Pathstone Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% during the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 86,808 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $24,051,000 after buying an additional 316 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.8% during the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 20,454 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,664,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. Finally, West Family Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 23.0% during the third quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 1,557 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $431,000 after buying an additional 291 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ADP shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.18.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

ADP opened at $298.79 on Thursday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $231.27 and a 52-week high of $322.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $121.74 billion, a PE ratio of 31.16, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $302.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $295.07.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 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 Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is 64.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total value of $704,869.20. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 3,063 shares in the company, valued at $929,007.90. This represents a 43.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total value of $106,366.46. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,951 shares of company stock worth $1,762,074 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.