Legato Capital Management LLC Sells 3,226 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Legato Capital Management LLC decreased its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 37.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,294 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,226 shares during the period. Legato Capital Management LLC's holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,550,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 280,961 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $77,750,000 after buying an additional 15,340 shares during the period. RIA Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter valued at $470,000. Dash Acquisitions Inc. boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. now owns 52,329 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $15,069,000 after purchasing an additional 2,781 shares during the period. Finally, DRW Securities LLC bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter valued at $951,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ADP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated 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. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, November 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $293.55.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

NASDAQ ADP traded down $2.07 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $308.15. 1,100,945 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,756,367. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $231.27 and a 52 week high of $311.67. The business's fifty day moving average price is $297.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $288.58. 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 (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. Equities research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. Automatic Data Processing's payout ratio is currently 64.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.15, for a total transaction of $305,322.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,756,961. This represents a 14.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total transaction of $704,869.20. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $929,007.90. The trade was a 43.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,478 shares of company stock worth $1,617,241 over the last three months. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.