Kesler Norman & Wride LLC Has $2.28 Million Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC decreased its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 7,779 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 440 shares during the quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $2,277,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 121.8% during the fourth quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total transaction of $210,236.39. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the business’s 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 directly owns 13,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,027,233.98. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 5,951 shares of company stock valued at $1,762,074. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ADP has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group increased their price objective 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, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $302.30.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ ADP opened at $306.54 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $124.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $231.27 and a 52 week high of $322.84. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $304.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $296.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.