Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Shares Sold by Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. reduced its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 1.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,961 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 946 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.'s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $17,404,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. von Borstel & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Main Street Group LTD lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 50.7% during the 4th 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 during the period. Abound Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 58.1% during the 1st quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 117 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. 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 valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, Banque de Luxembourg S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 transaction of $140,120.92. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 7,364 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,158,682.96. This represents a 6.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ADP. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $321.00 to $332.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. UBS Group dropped 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 note on Friday, June 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. TD Securities raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $307.08.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ ADP traded down $1.50 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $306.90. 1,919,181 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,714,113. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $231.27 and a 1 year high of $329.93. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $312.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $303.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current 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. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.79% and a return on equity of 77.33%. The company had revenue of $5.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.49 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.88 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

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.