Sage Mountain Advisors LLC Sells 384 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Sage Mountain Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 20.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,458 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 384 shares during the period. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $427,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Claris Advisors LLC MO lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 11,488.9% in the 4th quarter. Claris Advisors LLC MO now owns 1,043 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034 shares during the period. Vista Investment Partners II LLC bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter worth about $3,025,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 768 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $225,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 13,354 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,909,000 after acquiring an additional 577 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Paragon Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,334 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,732,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.15, for a total transaction of $305,322.05. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,756,961. The trade was a 14.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total value of $106,366.46. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at $4,027,233.98. The trade was 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 sold 5,478 shares of company stock valued at $1,617,241. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ADP shares. UBS Group raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.18.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 3.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ ADP opened at $292.44 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $119.16 billion, a PE ratio of 30.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $302.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $294.33. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $231.27 and a 52-week high of $322.84.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 64.23%.

Automatic Data Processing Company 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.