Dash Acquisitions Inc. Sells 8,483 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Dash Acquisitions Inc. reduced its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 16.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,846 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 8,483 shares during the quarter. Automatic Data Processing comprises about 2.9% of Dash Acquisitions Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Dash Acquisitions Inc.'s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $13,080,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 68,856 shares in the company, valued at $20,077,721.04. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total transaction of $704,869.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $929,007.90. This represents a 43.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,478 shares of company stock valued at $1,617,241 in the last ninety days. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated 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. Barclays raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $293.55.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ:ADP traded down $1.21 on Friday, reaching $310.76. 1,600,341 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,606,313. 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 1-year low of $231.27 and a 1-year high of $313.72. The company's 50 day moving average is $298.44 and its 200-day moving average is $289.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.