Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Sells 59 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd cut its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,731 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 59 shares during the quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $864,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 22,539.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 934,326 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $217,670,000 after purchasing an additional 930,199 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 40.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,128,701 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $752,703,000 after purchasing an additional 905,043 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 65.5% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,402,511 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $337,416,000 after purchasing an additional 555,184 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 18.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,576,575 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $855,287,000 after purchasing an additional 553,946 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth about $107,401,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $215,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,071,250. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, VP Don Mcguire sold 11,333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $2,776,585.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 19,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,876,970. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $215,750.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,071,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,162 shares of company stock valued at $3,741,859. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock traded up $0.53 on Tuesday, reaching $246.84. 1,661,476 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,807,928. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $247.09 and its 200-day moving average is $239.21. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $201.46 and a one year high of $256.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market cap of $101.40 billion, a PE ratio of 28.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.78.

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

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.19%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on ADP. Bank of America upgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $217.00 to $243.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Two investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $254.58.

About Automatic Data Processing

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.