Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Shares Sold by Mackenzie Financial Corp

Mackenzie Financial Corp decreased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 19.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 189,441 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 46,844 shares during the quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $44,134,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on ADP shares. Bank of America upgraded Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $217.00 to $243.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Wolfe Research upgraded Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $254.58.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

ADP opened at $244.21 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $247.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $239.16. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $201.46 and a 12-month high of $256.84. 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 firm has a market cap of $100.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.43, a PEG 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 the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 95.22% and a net margin of 19.14%. The company had revenue of $4.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.96 EPS. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.29%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $215,750.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,071,250. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, VP Joseph Desilva sold 1,904 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total transaction of $485,520.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 17,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,380,645. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $215,750.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,071,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 15,162 shares of company stock worth $3,741,859 in the last quarter. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.