BlueSpruce Investments LP Sells 224,535 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

BlueSpruce Investments LP reduced its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 18.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,016,224 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 224,535 shares during the period. Automatic Data Processing makes up approximately 6.0% of BlueSpruce Investments LP's portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. BlueSpruce Investments LP owned about 0.25% of Automatic Data Processing worth $297,479,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ADP. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Banque de Luxembourg S.A. acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP Christopher D'ambrosio sold 473 shares of Automatic Data Processing 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,218,112.80. This trade represents a 6.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $3,686,852.74. This trade represents a 11.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,451 shares of company stock worth $743,024 over the last ninety days. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of ADP stock traded up $1.91 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $307.09. The stock had a trading volume of 1,164,247 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,689,086. The stock's 50 day moving average is $297.68 and its 200 day moving average is $298.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.65 billion, a PE ratio of 32.02, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $231.27 and a twelve month high of $322.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $5.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.88 earnings per share. Automatic Data Processing's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 63.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ADP. UBS Group increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. TD Securities lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $296.00 to $298.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $303.55.

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.