Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Holdings Decreased by Cynosure Group LLC

Cynosure Group LLC lessened its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 23.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,245 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 373 shares during the period. Cynosure Group LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $364,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,731,270 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $11,923,265,000 after buying an additional 277,324 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 2.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,334,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,098,541,000 after acquiring an additional 424,328 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,583,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,098,305,000 after acquiring an additional 65,965 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 3,120,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $910,972,000 after purchasing an additional 449,431 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,321,849 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $679,675,000 after purchasing an additional 69,042 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ADP shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $302.30.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ:ADP opened at $307.23 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $231.27 and a 52 week high of $322.84. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $304.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $296.92. The company has a market capitalization of $125.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.74.

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 for the quarter, beating 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, research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 64.23%.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total value of $210,236.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,077,721.04. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.15, for a total transaction of $305,322.05. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,756,961. This represents a 14.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,089 shares of company stock valued at $2,113,777 in the last three months. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.