Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. Has $271,000 Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. decreased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 64.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,152 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 2,130 shares during the quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $271,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock traded up $1.41 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $249.74. 1,302,005 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,445,963. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a 50 day moving average of $246.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $239.05. The stock has a market cap of $102.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.78. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $201.46 and a fifty-two week high of $256.84.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $4.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 95.22% and a net margin of 19.14%. The business’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.96 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.24%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ADP. Bank of America raised shares of Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $217.00 to $243.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $253.08.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP John Ayala sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.13, for a total value of $352,695.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 19,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,510,498.79. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 694 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.43, for a total transaction of $173,104.42. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,687 shares in the company, valued at $5,159,958.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP John Ayala sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.13, for a total value of $352,695.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 19,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,510,498.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 16,662 shares of company stock valued at $4,094,554. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.