Vest Financial LLC Decreases Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Vest Financial LLC cut its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 196,776 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,450 shares during the quarter. Automatic Data Processing accounts for about 1.0% of Vest Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $57,602,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% during the third 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. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 78.5% during the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on ADP shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $293.55.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of ADP stock opened at $305.97 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $124.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $231.27 and a 12-month high of $311.67. The business’s 50 day moving average is $297.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $285.99. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,027,233.98. The trade was a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total transaction of $704,869.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 3,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $929,007.90. This trade represents a 43.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,478 shares of company stock worth $1,617,241 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Company 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.