Polen Capital Management LLC Sells 18,403 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Polen Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 9.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 179,749 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 18,403 shares during the quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $52,618,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ADP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 target price 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 given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.18.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.15, for a total value of $305,322.05. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,140 shares in the company, valued at $1,756,961. The trade was a 14.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total value of $106,366.46. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,027,233.98. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 5,951 shares of company stock worth $1,762,074. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ADP opened at $291.76 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $231.27 and a 12 month high of $322.84. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $302.32 and a 200-day moving average of $294.74. The company has a market capitalization of $118.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 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 dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.23%.

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.