B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Reduces Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG cut its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 12.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 41,265 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 5,988 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $12,079,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 121.8% during the fourth quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 6,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,756,961. The trade was a 14.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 5,951 shares of company stock worth $1,762,074. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ADP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group boosted 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. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One research analyst has 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, Automatic Data Processing presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $302.30.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of ADP opened at $300.83 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.58 billion, a PE ratio of 31.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $303.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $296.45. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $231.27 and a twelve month high of $322.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current 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 issued a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.05%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.23%.

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.