West Oak Capital LLC Sells 15,625 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

West Oak Capital LLC lowered its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 98.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 175 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 15,625 shares during the quarter. West Oak Capital LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $51,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Accredited Investors Inc. increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 4,431.5% in the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,315,295 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $640,712,000 after purchasing an additional 2,264,202 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 28,478.6% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,194,587 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,305,780,000 after buying an additional 1,190,407 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter worth approximately $160,920,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 332.3% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 623,341 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $172,497,000 after buying an additional 479,145 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 242.4% in the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 644,135 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $153,749,000 after acquiring an additional 456,027 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,027,233.98. The trade was a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP David Foskett sold 1,004 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.29, for a total value of $290,447.16. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,723,589.82. The trade was a 14.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,062 shares of company stock worth $12,299,550 over the last ninety days. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP traded down $5.04 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $286.85. 2,292,441 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,475,971. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $298.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $277.85. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $231.27 and a one year high of $309.63. The company has a market cap of $116.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This is a boost from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.15%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is 65.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $289.91.

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.