Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Sells 2,125 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. decreased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 40,876 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,125 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $11,966,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 5,603 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,649,000 after buying an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,492 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $437,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 62.0% during the fourth quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 3,234 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $947,000 after purchasing an additional 1,238 shares during the period. TIAA Trust National Association lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 38,923 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $11,394,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FineMark National Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. FineMark National Bank & Trust now owns 986 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on ADP. 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of 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 research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total transaction of $144,832.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 7,244 shares in the company, valued at $2,218,112.80. This represents a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total value of $704,869.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,063 shares in the company, valued at $929,007.90. This represents a 43.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,951 shares of company stock valued at $1,762,074. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $298.89 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $121.78 billion, a PE ratio of 31.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $303.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $295.70. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $231.27 and a fifty-two week high of $322.84.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 64.23%.

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.