Nuveen Asset Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Nuveen Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,798,579 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 90,416 shares during the quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $526,498,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 121.8% in the 4th quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Banque de Luxembourg S.A. purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ADP has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, TD Securities increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $296.00 to $298.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $303.55.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total value of $458,070.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,073 shares in the company, valued at $3,686,852.74. This trade represents a 11.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total value of $144,832.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 7,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,218,112.80. This represents a 6.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,451 shares of company stock worth $743,024. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of ADP opened at $309.41 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $231.27 and a 1 year high of $322.84. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $297.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $299.59. The firm has a market cap of $125.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $5.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.49 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.88 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 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, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.05%.

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.