Haverford Trust Co Decreases Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Haverford Trust Co lessened its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 258,455 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 988 shares during the quarter. Haverford Trust Co owned 0.06% of Automatic Data Processing worth $75,657,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at about $708,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 5.8% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 280,961 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $77,750,000 after buying an additional 15,340 shares in the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $951,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 51.1% during the 3rd quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 18,925 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $5,236,000 after acquiring an additional 6,399 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 82,736 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $22,896,000 after acquiring an additional 8,846 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.15, for a total value of $305,322.05. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 6,140 shares of the company's stock, 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 at this link. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 5,951 shares of company stock valued at $1,762,074. Insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ADP has been the subject of several research reports. 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. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. 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 note on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $302.30.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 1.5 %

ADP traded down $4.60 during trading on Friday, hitting $300.83. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,785,428 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,628,056. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $231.27 and a twelve month high of $322.84. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $303.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $296.20. 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 stock has a market cap of $122.58 billion, a PE ratio of 31.37, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.05%. Automatic Data Processing's payout ratio is 64.23%.

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.