Machina Capital S.A.S. Has $772,000 Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Machina Capital S.A.S. decreased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 65.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,638 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5,030 shares during the period. Machina Capital S.A.S.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $772,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,027,233.98. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total transaction of $210,236.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 68,856 shares in the company, valued at $20,077,721.04. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,478 shares of company stock valued at $1,617,241 over the last three months. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $306.45 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $231.27 and a 1-year high of $322.84. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $302.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $293.75.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. On average, equities analysts predict 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 64.23%.

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.