Cannell & Spears LLC Sells 1,109 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Cannell & Spears LLC trimmed its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 85,914 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,109 shares during the period. Cannell & Spears LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $25,150,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at $455,993,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at about $342,942,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 41,710.7% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,090,422 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $319,199,000 after buying an additional 1,087,814 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter worth about $160,920,000. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 3,120,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $910,972,000 after acquiring an additional 449,431 shares during the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,027,233.98. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.15, for a total value of $305,322.05. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,140 shares in the company, valued at $1,756,961. This represents a 14.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,951 shares of company stock valued at $1,762,074 in the last three months. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

NASDAQ:ADP opened at $300.83 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $303.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $296.45. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $231.27 and a 1-year high of $322.84. The firm has a market cap of $122.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. Equities research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $302.30.

Automatic Data Processing Company 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.