Segment Wealth Management LLC Trims Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Segment Wealth Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 58,363 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 43 shares during the quarter. Automatic Data Processing accounts for 1.2% of Segment Wealth Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Segment Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $17,085,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Accredited Investors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4,431.5% in the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,315,295 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $640,712,000 after purchasing an additional 2,264,202 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 28,478.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,194,587 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,305,780,000 after acquiring an additional 1,190,407 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $160,920,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 332.3% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 623,341 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $172,497,000 after acquiring an additional 479,145 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 242.4% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 644,135 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $153,749,000 after purchasing an additional 456,027 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $11,692,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 32,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,781,200. This trade represents a 54.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.15, for a total value of $305,322.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,756,961. The trade was a 14.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 42,129 shares of company stock worth $12,604,872. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of ADP opened at $296.18 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $297.90 and its 200-day moving average is $280.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $120.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $231.27 and a one year high of $309.63.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.12. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. The company had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.08 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is presently 65.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.91.

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.