Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV Decreases Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV trimmed its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP – Get Rating) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,832 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 69 shares during the quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $438,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 1.2% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,551,673 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,946,194,000 after buying an additional 472,896 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 1.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,038,152 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,098,391,000 after acquiring an additional 309,039 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 7.4% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,689,136 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,522,047,000 after acquiring an additional 461,438 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 3.3% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,192,438 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $670,539,000 after acquiring an additional 101,869 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 11.9% during the second quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,038,493 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $638,205,000 after acquiring an additional 322,522 shares during the last quarter. 79.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ADP. Wolfe Research increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $220.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 5th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $285.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 26th. StockNews.com raised Automatic Data Processing from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 10th. Barclays reduced their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $280.00 to $278.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Sunday, January 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $253.00 to $245.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $246.10.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ ADP opened at $213.22 on Friday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $196.61 and a 12-month high of $274.92. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. The company has a market cap of $88.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.81. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $226.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $237.20.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 25th. The business services provider reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.01. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 96.94% and a net margin of 18.24%. The firm had revenue of $4.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.39 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.65 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 8.12 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 10th will be given a $1.25 dividend. This represents a $5.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 9th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 66.40%.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Donald Weinstein sold 5,075 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $1,243,375.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 32,950 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,072,750. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 52,254 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.15, for a total value of $12,235,274.10. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 44,481 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,415,226.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Donald Weinstein sold 5,075 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $1,243,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 32,950 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,072,750. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 106,350 shares of company stock worth $25,301,670 in the last three months. 0.33% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Automatic Data Processing

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Automatic Data Processing, Inc engages in the provision of business outsourcing solutions specializing in cloud-based human capital management. It operates through the following business segments: Employer Services, Professional Employer Organization Services, and Other. The Employer Services segment provides clients ranging from single-employee small businesses to large enterprises with tens of thousands of employees around the world, offering a range of human resources outsourcing and technology-based human capital management solutions, including strategic, cloud-based platforms.