Avalon Trust Co Sells 288 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Avalon Trust Co cut its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 13.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,883 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 288 shares during the quarter. Avalon Trust Co’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $439,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ADP. Heritage Investment Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Heritage Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,201 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $513,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. now owns 8,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,065,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 1.1% in the third quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,151 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $999,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 4,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,067,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 6,886 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,657,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $215,750.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,071,250. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $215,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 8,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,071,250. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Joseph Desilva sold 1,904 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total transaction of $485,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 17,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,380,645. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,829 shares of company stock valued at $965,274 over the last quarter. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Bank of America upgraded Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $217.00 to $243.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $253.00 to $251.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $255.42.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

ADP stock traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $241.89. The company had a trading volume of 1,491,532 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,451,137. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $245.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $239.08. The company has a market capitalization of $99.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.78. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $205.53 and a 1 year high of $256.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.79 by $0.09. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 93.09% and a net margin of 19.56%. The business had revenue of $5.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.32%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 62.50%.

Automatic Data Processing 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.