Brighton Jones LLC Reduces Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Brighton Jones LLC decreased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 12.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,765 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,261 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC's holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $2,678,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Main Street Group LTD raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 50.7% in the fourth quarter. Main Street Group LTD now owns 113 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 121.8% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Banque de Luxembourg S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ADP. Mizuho upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $321.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. 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, June 5th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $323.00 to $315.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, TD Securities raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $307.08.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Christopher D'ambrosio sold 478 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,158,682.96. The trade was a 6.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total transaction of $458,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,686,852.74. This trade represents a 11.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Automatic Data Processing stock traded down $0.85 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $306.77. 1,427,194 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,713,649. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $309.19 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $302.92. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $231.27 and a twelve month high of $329.93. The firm has a market cap of $124.52 billion, a PE ratio of 31.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.09. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 77.33% and a net margin of 19.79%. The firm had revenue of $5.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.49 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.88 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict 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 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 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing's payout ratio is 63.05%.

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.