UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp Has $247,000 Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp lessened its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 11.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 845 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 106 shares during the quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $247,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ADP. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth $708,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 5.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 15,340 shares during the period. Bath Savings Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 99,299 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,068,000 after purchasing an additional 1,951 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 529,690 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $146,581,000 after buying an additional 22,766 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 8.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 667,068 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $194,117,000 after buying an additional 51,828 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on ADP. 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $302.30.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,856 shares in the company, valued at $20,077,721.04. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total transaction of $144,832.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,218,112.80. The trade was a 6.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 5,951 shares of company stock worth $1,762,074. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $305.43 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $303.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $296.02. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $231.27 and a 12 month high of $322.84. The company has a market capitalization of $124.45 billion, a PE ratio of 31.85, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. 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 (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its earnings results 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%. Analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

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 given a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.