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

First Manhattan CO. LLC. lessened its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm 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.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 121.8% in the fourth quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Banque de Luxembourg S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth $41,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of ADP stock opened at $307.09 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $297.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $299.06. The company has a market capitalization of $124.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $231.27 and a 12 month high of $322.84.

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

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ADP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. TD Securities raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $296.00 to $298.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $303.55.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 478 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.14, for a total transaction of $140,120.92. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 7,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,158,682.96. This trade represents a 6.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total value of $458,070.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,686,852.74. The trade was a 11.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,451 shares of company stock valued at $743,024 over the last ninety days. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.