Cannell & Co. Sells 4,400 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Cannell & Co. reduced its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 87,470 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,400 shares during the period. Cannell & Co.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $20,378,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Evolution Advisers Inc. purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 106.0% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 173 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Wolfe Research raised Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Bank of America raised shares of Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $217.00 to $243.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $258.36.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP Don Mcguire sold 11,333 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $2,776,585.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 19,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,876,970. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Don Mcguire sold 11,333 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value 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 approximately $4,876,970. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of the business’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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,285 shares in the company, valued at $2,071,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 15,162 shares of company stock valued at $3,741,859. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

NASDAQ ADP traded up $10.88 on Wednesday, hitting $252.77. 957,312 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,777,126. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $246.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $239.06. The company has a market capitalization of $103.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.78. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $205.53 and a 52-week high of $256.84.

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, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $4.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.96 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 65.19%.

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.