Freestone Capital Holdings LLC Sells 41 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Freestone Capital Holdings LLC lowered its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,327 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 41 shares during the period. Freestone Capital Holdings LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $5,072,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ADP. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total value of $704,869.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $929,007.90. This represents a 43.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total transaction of $210,236.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,077,721.04. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 5,478 shares of company stock valued at $1,617,241 in the last three months. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays increased 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. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.18.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP opened at $310.43 on Thursday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $231.27 and a 52-week high of $322.84. The company has a market capitalization of $126.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $301.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $293.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.23%.

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.