First International Bank & Trust Cuts Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

First International Bank & Trust reduced its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,453 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 118 shares during the quarter. First International Bank & Trust’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $718,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Accredited Investors Inc. raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4,431.5% in the 3rd 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 boosted its holdings in 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 Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter worth about $160,920,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 332.3% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 623,341 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $172,497,000 after purchasing an additional 479,145 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in 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 buying an additional 456,027 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $20,077,721.04. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $11,692,500.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,781,200. This trade represents a 54.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,062 shares of company stock worth $12,299,550 over the last ninety days. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on ADP shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. 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 note on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of ADP opened at $291.89 on Friday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $231.27 and a 1 year high of $309.63. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $298.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $277.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $118.93 billion, a PE ratio of 31.15, a PEG ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.77 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. Automatic Data Processing’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.08 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.11%. This is a positive change from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.74%.

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.