Hartford Financial Management Inc. Sells 237 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Hartford Financial Management Inc. cut its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 14,501 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 237 shares during the quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $4,245,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Advisory Alpha LLC increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 19.1% in the second quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 1,568 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $374,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 2nd quarter worth about $16,589,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 43.2% in the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 169 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 63.9% during the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 144,196 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $34,418,000 after acquiring an additional 56,196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mattson Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the second quarter worth about $2,814,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ADP opened at $303.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $231.27 and a fifty-two week high of $311.67. The firm has a market cap of $123.57 billion, a PE ratio of 31.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $297.23 and a 200-day moving average price of $283.77.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 81.85%. Equities research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is presently 64.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on ADP. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $291.27.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $11,692,500.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at $9,781,200. The trade was a 54.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,756,961. This trade represents a 14.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 42,129 shares of company stock worth $12,604,872 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.