First Manhattan CO. LLC. Sells 885 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

First Manhattan CO. LLC. lowered its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,892 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 885 shares during the period. First Manhattan CO. LLC.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $18,505,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ADP. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 121.8% in the 4th quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Banque de Luxembourg S.A. purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ADP shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. TD Securities upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $296.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $303.55.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total value of $458,070.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,686,852.74. The trade was a 11.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total transaction of $144,832.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,244 shares in the company, valued at $2,218,112.80. The trade was a 6.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,451 shares of company stock worth $743,024 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.6 %

ADP stock opened at $307.09 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $297.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $299.06. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $231.27 and a twelve month high of $322.84. The stock has a market cap of $124.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.02, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

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

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 63.05%.

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.