Hartford Financial Management Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Hartford Financial Management Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,738 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 174 shares during the quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $4,078,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ADP. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Keener Financial Planning LLC grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 230.3% during the first quarter. Keener Financial Planning LLC now owns 109 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 78.5% during the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the first quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the first quarter worth about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.60, for a total value of $228,927.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,410 shares in the company, valued at $2,816,946. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total value of $2,479,748.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 36,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,899,862.45. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.60, for a total value of $228,927.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,410 shares in the company, valued at $2,816,946. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 58,817 shares of company stock worth $15,999,208. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ADP shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $282.00.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ADP opened at $289.24 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $117.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.87, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $281.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $259.59. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $205.53 and a 1 year high of $294.18.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.20 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.77 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.08 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.77%.

Automatic Data Processing 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.