Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Decreases Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 36.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,464 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 2,608 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,364,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ADP. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 34,655.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,901,007 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $886,345,000 after purchasing an additional 2,892,660 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at about $455,993,000. Winslow Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at about $396,714,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 26.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,136,763 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,796,415,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at about $342,942,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on ADP shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group upped 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. 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 note on Thursday. Finally, TD Securities upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $305.64.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of ADP stock opened at $326.81 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $132.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $305.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $302.63. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $231.27 and a 12-month high of $329.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

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 (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 the consensus estimate of $5.49 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.88 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing's payout ratio is currently 63.05%.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,686,852.74. This trade represents a 11.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher D'ambrosio sold 478 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 7,364 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,158,682.96. The trade was a 6.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,451 shares of company stock valued at $743,024 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.