Virtu Financial LLC Sells 3,697 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Virtu Financial LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 75.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,173 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 3,697 shares during the quarter. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $343,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,334,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,098,541,000 after purchasing an additional 424,328 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 2.8% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,517,642 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,906,257,000 after purchasing an additional 286,080 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,238,526 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $896,197,000 after buying an additional 41,709 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 3,120,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $910,972,000 after buying an additional 449,431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,321,849 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $679,675,000 after buying an additional 69,042 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on ADP. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $302.30.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Automatic Data Processing news, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total transaction of $210,236.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,077,721.04. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was 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 directly owns 3,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $929,007.90. This represents a 43.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,951 shares of company stock worth $1,762,074. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ ADP opened at $302.41 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $303.59 and its 200 day moving average is $295.96. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $231.27 and a 52 week high of $322.84. 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 company has a market cap of $123.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.53, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 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.