Sigma Planning Corp Sells 4,863 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Sigma Planning Corp lessened its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 57.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,668 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,863 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $855,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. now owns 8,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,065,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 8,292 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,995,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,151 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $999,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 4,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,067,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 6,886 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,657,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $215,750.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,071,250. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Joseph Desilva sold 1,904 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total transaction of $485,520.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,380,645. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of Automatic Data Processing 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 sale, the vice president now owns 8,285 shares in the company, valued at $2,071,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 15,162 shares of company stock worth $3,741,859. Corporate insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of ADP opened at $246.84 on Wednesday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $201.46 and a 12-month high of $256.84. The business’s fifty day moving average is $247.09 and its 200 day moving average is $239.21. 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 stock has a market cap of $101.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.78.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.96 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.19%.

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.