Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 31.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 9,900 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,581 shares during the period. Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $2,898,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was 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 approximately $20,077,721.04. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total value of $704,869.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $929,007.90. The trade was a 43.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,478 shares of company stock worth $1,617,241. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ ADP opened at $313.37 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $231.27 and a twelve month high of $314.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $127.69 billion, a PE ratio of 32.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $299.38 and its 200 day moving average is $291.25.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts forecast 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 64.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on ADP. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted 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. Barclays lifted 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. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $293.55.

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.