Man Group plc Sells 178,693 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Man Group plc trimmed its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 56.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 138,908 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 178,693 shares during the period. Man Group plc's holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $40,663,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. AMG National Trust Bank grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 11,334 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,318,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. Aspiriant LLC grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 2,372 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $694,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,009 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,466,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 3,686 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,079,000 after buying an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Riversedge Advisors LLC grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Riversedge Advisors LLC now owns 916 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $268,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ADP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $303.55.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ADP traded up $3.52 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $319.37. 1,488,982 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,698,742. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $231.27 and a 12-month high of $322.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a market cap of $129.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.30, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. The business's fifty day moving average price is $298.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $300.06.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company 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 firm earned $2.88 earnings per share. Automatic Data Processing's revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing's payout ratio is 63.05%.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

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 stock was sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total value of $458,070.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 12,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,686,852.74. This represents a 11.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher D'ambrosio sold 473 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total value 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 approximately $2,218,112.80. This represents a 6.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,451 shares of company stock valued at $743,024. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.