White Pine Investment CO Has $862,000 Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

White Pine Investment CO lessened its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,944 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 177 shares during the quarter. White Pine Investment CO’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $862,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $209,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 5.8% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 280,961 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $77,750,000 after acquiring an additional 15,340 shares in the last quarter. RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter worth $470,000. Dash Acquisitions Inc. increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 5.6% in the third quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. now owns 52,329 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,069,000 after purchasing an additional 2,781 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DRW Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter valued at about $951,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at $4,027,233.98. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total value of $210,236.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 68,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,077,721.04. This trade represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 42,129 shares of company stock valued at $12,604,872. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP opened at $298.15 on Wednesday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $231.27 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63. The company’s 50-day moving average is $297.69 and its 200 day moving average is $281.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a market capitalization of $121.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $4.83 billion during 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 company’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.08 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.07%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 65.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on ADP shares. Barclays raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing 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.