Tranquility Partners LLC Reduces Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Tranquility Partners LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,353 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 278 shares during the period. Tranquility Partners LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,014,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 19.3% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 134,223 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $30,532,000 after buying an additional 21,671 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 1st quarter worth approximately $571,000. Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 453 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 82.8% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 636 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 2,902 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $660,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $215,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,071,250. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, VP Don Mcguire sold 11,333 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $2,776,585.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 19,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,876,970. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $215,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,071,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 15,162 shares of company stock valued at $3,741,859. 0.26% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ADP has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Bank of America upgraded Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $217.00 to $243.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $254.58.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of ADP stock traded down $1.31 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $242.90. 1,126,134 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,824,087. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market cap of $99.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.78. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $247.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $239.16. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $201.46 and a fifty-two week high of $256.84.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 95.22% and a net margin of 19.14%. The business had revenue of $4.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.96 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.14 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.19%.

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.