Pinebridge Investments L.P. Trims Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Pinebridge Investments L.P. trimmed its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 22.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,824 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 2,837 shares during the quarter. Pinebridge Investments L.P.'s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $2,876,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth $708,000. Bath Savings Trust Co grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Bath Savings Trust Co now owns 99,299 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $29,068,000 after buying an additional 1,951 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 529,690 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $146,581,000 after buying an additional 22,766 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 8.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 667,068 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $194,117,000 after acquiring an additional 51,828 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 121.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ADP has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $302.30.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 473 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total value of $144,832.60. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,218,112.80. The trade was a 6.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,775 shares of company stock worth $1,447,893 in the last 90 days. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ ADP traded up $4.83 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $300.60. The stock had a trading volume of 3,341,618 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,692,780. The stock has a market capitalization of $122.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.74. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $298.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $298.53. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $231.27 and a one year high of $322.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $5.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.88 EPS. Automatic Data Processing's revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 2.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio is presently 64.23%.

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.