Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Cuts Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 73.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,785 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 26,685 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $2,864,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ADP. Accredited Investors Inc. increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 4,431.5% in the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,315,295 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $640,712,000 after purchasing an additional 2,264,202 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter valued at $160,920,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $172,497,000 after buying an additional 479,145 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,334,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,098,541,000 after buying an additional 424,328 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,517,642 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,906,257,000 after acquiring an additional 286,080 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ADP has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $293.55.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ADP opened at $311.30 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $300.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $291.53. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $231.27 and a 1-year high of $315.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company has a market cap of $126.84 billion, a PE ratio of 32.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 80.86%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total transaction of $704,869.20. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $929,007.90. The trade was a 43.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,478 shares of company stock worth $1,617,241. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.