Blue Trust Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 16.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,778 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,149 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.'s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,691,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter valued at about $209,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 280,961 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $77,750,000 after acquiring an additional 15,340 shares during the period. RIA Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $470,000. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth approximately $708,000. Finally, Dash Acquisitions Inc. lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 5.6% in the third quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. now owns 52,329 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $15,069,000 after purchasing an additional 2,781 shares during the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Shares of ADP stock opened at $308.15 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $297.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $288.37. The stock has a market cap of $125.56 billion, a PE ratio of 32.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $231.27 and a 12 month high of $311.67.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, equities analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.23%.

In other Automatic Data Processing news, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total value of $210,236.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,856 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,077,721.04. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 3,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $929,007.90. The trade was a 43.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,478 shares of company stock worth $1,617,241. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Several brokerages recently commented on ADP. Barclays lifted their target price 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. 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. TD Cowen upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $293.55.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on ADP

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.

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