Stanley Laman Group Ltd. Decreases Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Stanley Laman Group Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 11.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,381 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,775 shares during the period. Stanley Laman Group Ltd.'s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $4,394,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Main Street Group LTD increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 50.7% during the fourth quarter. Main Street Group LTD now owns 113 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC grew 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 valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Banque de Luxembourg S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on ADP. Mizuho increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $321.00 to $332.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. TD Securities lifted 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. Stifel Nicolaus boosted 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 dropped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $323.00 to $315.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $306.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total transaction of $458,070.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 12,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,686,852.74. This represents a 11.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher D'ambrosio sold 478 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $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. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of ADP stock traded down $2.93 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $306.82. The company had a trading volume of 2,021,642 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,705,702. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $231.27 and a one year high of $329.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $307.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $302.92. The firm has a market cap of $124.55 billion, a PE ratio of 31.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. The business had revenue of $5.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.88 earnings per share. Automatic Data Processing's revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing's payout ratio is currently 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.