Smithfield Trust Co Buys 551 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Smithfield Trust Co grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 14,627 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 551 shares during the quarter. Smithfield Trust Co’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $4,290,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ADP. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 2,248 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $658,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 44.6% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 584,671 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $171,151,000 after purchasing an additional 180,224 shares in the last quarter. Mayport LLC bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at about $228,000. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 9,631 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,822,000 after purchasing an additional 1,243 shares during the period. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth about $393,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total value of $704,869.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $929,007.90. This trade represents a 43.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,027,233.98. The trade was a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,478 shares of company stock valued at $1,617,241. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 1.6 %

ADP stock opened at $313.44 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $127.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $231.27 and a 1-year high of $322.84. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $301.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $293.07.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 forecast 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ADP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.18.

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.