Foster & Motley Inc. Sells 58 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Foster & Motley Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,399 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 58 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,527,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. BlueSpruce Investments LP bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 1st quarter valued at about $365,757,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $308,321,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,543,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $825,487,000 after buying an additional 649,791 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 27.7% in the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,715,382 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $678,601,000 after buying an additional 589,831 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 238.1% in the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 784,003 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $195,797,000 after buying an additional 552,096 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ADP has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $282.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $265.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.60, for a total transaction of $228,927.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,816,946. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total value of $7,164,724.32. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 88,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,959,908.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.60, for a total value of $228,927.60. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 10,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,816,946. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 49,614 shares of company stock valued at $13,519,460 over the last quarter. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $270.17 on Friday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $205.53 and a fifty-two week high of $278.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market cap of $110.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $255.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $249.62.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 89.20% and a net margin of 19.54%. The business had revenue of $4.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.07%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 62.50%.

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.