Nuveen Asset Management LLC Reduces Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Nuveen Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,798,579 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 90,416 shares during the quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.44% of Automatic Data Processing worth $526,498,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 121.8% during the fourth quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Banque de Luxembourg S.A. bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 478 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.14, for a total value of $140,120.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,158,682.96. The trade was a 6.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total value of $458,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,686,852.74. This trade represents a 11.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,451 shares of company stock valued at $743,024 in the last quarter. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $303.55.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

ADP opened at $309.41 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $297.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $299.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market cap of $125.60 billion, a PE ratio of 32.26, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $231.27 and a 1 year high of $322.84.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $5.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.49 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. Automatic Data Processing’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.88 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.05%.

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.