Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Sells 7,984 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 4.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 185,081 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 7,984 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $56,548,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ADP. Main Street Group LTD raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 50.7% in the 4th quarter. Main Street Group LTD now owns 113 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Abound Wealth Management grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 58.1% in the first quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 117 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 121.8% in the fourth quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Banque de Luxembourg S.A. bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on ADP shares. UBS Group cut 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 research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Mizuho upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $321.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. TD Securities increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $306.82.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 478 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.14, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 6.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the business’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 value of $458,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,686,852.74. The trade was a 11.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of ADP opened at $307.91 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $308.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $302.86. The stock has a market cap of $124.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $231.27 and a one year high of $329.93.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $5.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.49 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.88 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

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

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.