Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. Sells 1,067 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. decreased its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 51.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 989 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,067 shares during the quarter. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $290,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total transaction of $704,869.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 3,063 shares in the company, valued at $929,007.90. This trade represents a 43.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,478 shares of company stock worth $1,617,241 in the last 90 days. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on ADP shares. Mizuho raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $293.55.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of ADP stock opened at $310.76 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $298.72 and a 200-day moving average of $290.11. The stock has a market cap of $126.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $231.27 and a 52-week high of $313.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 1.98%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is presently 64.23%.

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.