Gateway Investment Advisers LLC Sells 171 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lessened its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 173,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 171 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $50,735,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Accredited Investors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4,431.5% in the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,315,295 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $640,712,000 after purchasing an additional 2,264,202 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 28,478.6% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,194,587 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,305,780,000 after buying an additional 1,190,407 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter worth about $160,920,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 332.3% in the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 623,341 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $172,497,000 after buying an additional 479,145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 242.4% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 644,135 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $153,749,000 after buying an additional 456,027 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ADP shares. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. 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, Automatic Data Processing presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $289.91.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total transaction of $210,236.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,077,721.04. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $11,692,500.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 32,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,781,200. This trade represents a 54.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 42,129 shares of company stock valued at $12,604,872. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

NASDAQ ADP traded up $0.66 on Thursday, hitting $294.03. 193,979 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,493,649. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $298.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $279.35. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $231.27 and a 52-week high of $309.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a market capitalization of $119.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.12. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. The firm had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.08 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.74%.

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.