Bank of New York Mellon Corp Has $2.37 Billion Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lessened its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,091,346 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 43,531 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $2,368,580,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ADP. Mengis Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,173 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,978,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth about $3,709,000. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 4,514 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,322,000 after buying an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 24.1% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 15,456 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,524,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dover Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at about $211,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on ADP. Royal Bank of Canada reissued 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. Mizuho increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays lifted 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 report on Monday, February 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $293.55.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total transaction of $704,869.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $929,007.90. This trade represents a 43.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 6,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,756,961. The trade was a 14.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,478 shares of company stock valued at $1,617,241. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of ADP stock opened at $312.20 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $127.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.55, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $231.27 and a 52 week high of $314.06. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $299.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $290.89.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (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%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.