International Assets Investment Management LLC Sells 1,189,711 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

International Assets Investment Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 99.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,876 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,189,711 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,412,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 78.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ:ADP opened at $291.89 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $231.27 and a 12-month high of $309.63. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $298.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $277.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.15, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $4.83 billion for 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 company’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.08 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This is an increase from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the business’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 value of $210,236.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,077,721.04. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP David Foskett sold 1,004 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.29, for a total value of $290,447.16. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,723,589.82. The trade was a 14.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 41,062 shares of company stock worth $12,299,550. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on ADP shares. Mizuho increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target 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. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.91.

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.