Baird Financial Group Inc. Sells 5,219 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Baird Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 493,951 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 5,219 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned 0.12% of Automatic Data Processing worth $144,594,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. AMG National Trust Bank increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 11,334 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,318,000 after buying an additional 33 shares during the period. Aspiriant LLC increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 2,372 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $694,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,009 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,466,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 3,686 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,079,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riversedge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 916 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $268,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP traded up $1.85 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $305.18. 2,013,030 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,688,964. The company has a market capitalization of $124.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $231.27 and a 1-year high of $322.84. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $297.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $298.91.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business 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 earned $2.88 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing's payout ratio is currently 63.05%.

Insider Activity

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,686,852.74. This represents a 11.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher D'ambrosio sold 473 shares of the company'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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,244 shares of the company's stock, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,451 shares of company stock worth $743,024. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on ADP. Royal Bank of Canada restated 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. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays increased their price target 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. Finally, TD Securities upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $296.00 to $298.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $303.55.

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.