Great Diamond Partners LLC Sells 135 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Great Diamond Partners LLC trimmed its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,117 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 135 shares during the period. Automatic Data Processing accounts for about 0.9% of Great Diamond Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Great Diamond Partners LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $3,547,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 78.5% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total value of $210,236.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 68,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,077,721.04. This trade represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 42,129 shares of company stock valued at $12,604,872 over the last ninety days. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ADP. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $291.27.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of ADP opened at $303.01 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $297.20 and its 200 day moving average is $283.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $231.27 and a 12-month high of $311.67. The company has a market capitalization of $123.46 billion, a PE ratio of 31.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 81.85%. Research analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is currently 64.23%.

Automatic Data Processing 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.