Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Shares Sold by Grimes & Company Inc.

Grimes & Company Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 2.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,402 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 79 shares during the quarter. Grimes & Company Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $850,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Heritage Investment Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Heritage Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,201 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $513,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 5,254 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,224,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. now owns 8,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,065,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC now owns 2,720 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $634,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 4,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,067,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ADP has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $253.00 to $251.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $254.00 to $250.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $255.42.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of ADP stock opened at $238.69 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $97.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $245.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $243.83. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $205.53 and a 12-month high of $256.84.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.79 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $5.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 93.09% and a net margin of 19.56%. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.52 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.16 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.50%.

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.