Janus Henderson Group PLC Sells 82,565 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Janus Henderson Group PLC lowered its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,696,271 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 82,565 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned 0.42% of Automatic Data Processing worth $496,552,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ADP. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at $708,000. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 121.7% in the fourth quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 12,898 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,776,000 after acquiring an additional 7,080 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 67.9% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 6,292 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,805,000 after purchasing an additional 2,545 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 228,973 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $63,363,000 after purchasing an additional 2,203 shares during the period. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,693,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Christopher D'ambrosio sold 473 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total transaction of $144,832.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,244 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,218,112.80. The trade was a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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 value of $458,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,073 shares in the company, valued at $3,686,852.74. The trade was a 11.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 2,451 shares of company stock worth $743,024. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

ADP opened at $308.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $297.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $299.24. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $231.27 and a one year high of $322.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76.

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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $5.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.49 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.88 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio is currently 63.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on ADP shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. 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, May 1st. TD Securities upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $296.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $303.55.

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.

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