Kesler Norman & Wride LLC Sells 440 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC cut its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,779 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 440 shares during the quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $2,277,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $224,000. Hilltop Holdings Inc. raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 515.3% in the 3rd quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 19,024 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,264,000 after purchasing an additional 15,932 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Investment Management Corp of Ontario boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 49.4% during the third quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 13,604 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,765,000 after buying an additional 4,500 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 10,826 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,996,000 after buying an additional 1,545 shares during the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on ADP. UBS Group raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upped 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, Barclays increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $302.30.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total value of $704,869.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $929,007.90. This represents a 43.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total transaction of $144,832.60. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 7,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,218,112.80. This represents a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,951 shares of company stock valued at $1,762,074. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP opened at $306.54 on Wednesday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $231.27 and a 52 week high of $322.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $304.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $296.84. The company has a market cap of $124.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.96, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (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%. Research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.23%.

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.