NS Partners Ltd Sells 934 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

NS Partners Ltd reduced its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 89,427 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 934 shares during the period. NS Partners Ltd’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $26,178,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter valued at about $209,000. Graypoint LLC boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 6.6% in the third quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 6,340 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,754,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 529,690 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $146,581,000 after buying an additional 22,766 shares during the last quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 5.2% in the third quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 890 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $246,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Western Pacific Wealth Management LP grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 150.0% in the third quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 500 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $138,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total value of $210,236.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,077,721.04. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,478 shares of company stock worth $1,617,241 over the last 90 days. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.18.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ:ADP opened at $306.45 on Friday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $231.27 and a 1 year high of $322.84. The stock has a market cap of $124.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.96, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a fifty day moving average of $302.08 and a 200-day moving average of $293.55. 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 (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. Equities 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued 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 2.01%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.