Petredis Investment Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Petredis Investment Advisors LLC cut its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,336 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 149 shares during the period. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $3,026,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Accredited Investors Inc. grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4,431.5% in the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,315,295 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $640,712,000 after purchasing an additional 2,264,202 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 28,478.6% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,194,587 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,305,780,000 after purchasing an additional 1,190,407 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter valued at approximately $160,920,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 332.3% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 623,341 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $172,497,000 after purchasing an additional 479,145 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 242.4% in the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 644,135 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $153,749,000 after purchasing an additional 456,027 shares during the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ADP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 19th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of ADP stock opened at $297.10 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $297.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $281.66. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $231.27 and a 52 week high of $309.63. 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 company has a market cap of $121.06 billion, a PE ratio of 31.71, a P/E/G ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its earnings results 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. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. The business had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.08 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS 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. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.74%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now owns 6,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,756,961. The trade was a 14.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $20,077,721.04. This trade represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 42,129 shares of company stock valued at $12,604,872. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.