O Brien Greene & Co. Inc Sells 980 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

O Brien Greene & Co. Inc reduced its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 15,840 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 980 shares during the quarter. Automatic Data Processing accounts for about 1.5% of O Brien Greene & Co. Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $4,637,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ADP. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on ADP. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price 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, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $293.55.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ADP opened at $313.22 on Thursday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $231.27 and a 1-year high of $313.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The business has a 50 day moving average of $298.18 and a 200 day moving average of $289.59. The company has a market capitalization of $127.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.66, a PEG ratio of 3.59 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors 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 yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is currently 64.23%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the business’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 value of $704,869.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,063 shares in the company, valued at $929,007.90. The trade was a 43.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.15, for a total transaction of $305,322.05. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,140 shares in the company, valued at $1,756,961. This represents a 14.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,478 shares of company stock worth $1,617,241 in the last quarter. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.