Carderock Capital Management Inc. Sells 165 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Carderock Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,374 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 165 shares during the quarter. Automatic Data Processing comprises 2.3% of Carderock Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Carderock Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $9,184,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Somerset Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 19,172 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,612,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 22.6% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 15,077 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,413,000 after purchasing an additional 2,775 shares in the last quarter. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Chemistry Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,381 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $697,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 121.7% in the fourth quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 12,898 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,776,000 after purchasing an additional 7,080 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,916,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on ADP. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 11th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Citigroup boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.91.

Insider Activity

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total value of $106,366.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at $4,027,233.98. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $11,692,500.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,781,200. This represents a 54.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 42,129 shares of company stock valued at $12,604,872 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ADP opened at $296.18 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $298.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $279.57. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $231.27 and a 1-year high of $309.63. The firm has a market cap of $120.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.12. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. The company had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.08 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 65.74%.

About Automatic Data Processing

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.