Advisors Asset Management Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 48,531 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,493 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $14,206,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth $708,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 280,961 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $77,750,000 after purchasing an additional 15,340 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter worth about $951,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 51.1% in the 3rd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 18,925 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,236,000 after purchasing an additional 6,399 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 82,736 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $22,896,000 after purchasing an additional 8,846 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a 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. 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 report on Monday, February 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.18.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $296.58 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $120.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.93, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $231.27 and a fifty-two week high of $322.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $302.51 and a 200 day moving average of $294.90.

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 return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. As a group, research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given 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 2.08%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.23%.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at $4,027,233.98. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total value of $144,832.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 7,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,218,112.80. The trade was a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,951 shares of company stock worth $1,762,074 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.