Polen Capital Management LLC Sells 18,403 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Polen Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 9.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 179,749 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 18,403 shares during the quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $52,618,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $708,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 15,340 shares in the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter valued at $951,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 51.1% in the third quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 18,925 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,236,000 after purchasing an additional 6,399 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 12.0% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 82,736 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $22,896,000 after purchasing an additional 8,846 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on ADP. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. 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 note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.18.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total value of $704,869.20. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total value 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 represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,951 shares of company stock worth $1,762,074. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP opened at $291.76 on Monday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $231.27 and a twelve month high of $322.84. The firm has a market cap of $118.88 billion, a PE ratio of 30.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The business has a fifty day moving average of $302.32 and a 200-day moving average of $294.74.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced 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 return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid 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 2.11%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.