SL Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

SL Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,246 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 63 shares during the period. Automatic Data Processing accounts for approximately 1.1% of SL Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. SL Advisors LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $657,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 1,054 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $292,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $482,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% in the third quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,902,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% in the second quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 5,698 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,360,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Austin Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.4% in the third quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC now owns 923 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $255,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP David Foskett sold 1,004 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.29, for a total transaction of $290,447.16. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,723,589.82. This represents a 14.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 32,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,781,200. This trade represents a 54.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 41,062 shares of company stock worth $12,299,550. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ADP traded up $2.95 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $291.35. 479,293 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,102,543. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $298.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $277.66. The firm has a market cap of $118.71 billion, a PE ratio of 31.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $231.27 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.08 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. This is a positive change from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.91.

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.