Diversified Trust Co Reduces Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Diversified Trust Co reduced its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 23.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,660 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 2,984 shares during the quarter. Diversified Trust Co's holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $2,951,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 92.1% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 10,026 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $2,935,000 after acquiring an additional 4,808 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth about $957,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth about $55,000. Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 72.9% during the 4th quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 1,482 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $434,000 after purchasing an additional 625 shares during the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 32,354 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $9,471,000 after purchasing an additional 1,228 shares during the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ADP shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. 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 research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $321.00 to $332.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $307.08.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of Automatic Data Processing 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,686,852.74. This trade represents a 11.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher D'ambrosio sold 478 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.14, for a total value of $140,120.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,364 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,158,682.96. The trade was a 6.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 0.2%

Automatic Data Processing stock traded up $0.47 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $303.45. 1,931,112 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,711,231. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $310.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $303.07. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $231.27 and a 12-month high of $329.93. The firm has a market cap of $123.18 billion, a PE ratio of 31.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 77.33% and a net margin of 19.79%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.88 EPS. Research analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 2.03%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing's payout ratio is presently 63.05%.

About Automatic Data Processing

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.