Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA Sells 1,100 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA reduced its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 18.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,959 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,100 shares during the period. Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,452,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% during the 3rd 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. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 78.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ ADP opened at $304.90 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market cap of $124.23 billion, a PE ratio of 31.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $297.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $284.84. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $231.27 and a 52 week high of $311.67.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ADP has been the subject of several research reports. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $293.55.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.15, for a total transaction of $305,322.05. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,756,961. This represents a 14.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $11,692,500.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at $9,781,200. This trade represents a 54.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, 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 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.