Grant GrossMendelsohn LLC Sells 897 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Grant GrossMendelsohn LLC cut its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 41.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,255 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 897 shares during the period. Grant GrossMendelsohn LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $369,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the second quarter worth $27,000. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 78.5% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter valued at about $35,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total transaction of $210,236.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 68,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,077,721.04. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $11,692,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,781,200. This trade represents a 54.45 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 42,129 shares of company stock valued at $12,604,872. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $296.18 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $120.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.61, a PEG ratio of 3.34 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. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $298.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $279.57. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $231.27 and a 52 week high of $309.63.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.77 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.08 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given 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 2.08%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.74%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ADP shares. TD Cowen increased 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. Citigroup increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price 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.