Verum Partners LLC Trims Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Verum Partners LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 6.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,852 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 125 shares during the quarter. Verum Partners LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $566,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Main Street Group LTD boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 50.7% during the fourth quarter. Main Street Group LTD now owns 113 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 121.8% in the 4th quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Banque de Luxembourg S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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. This represents a 11.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 478 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now owns 7,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,158,682.96. This trade represents a 6.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,451 shares of company stock valued at $743,024 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ADP shares. TD Securities raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. UBS Group raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $305.64.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

ADP opened at $326.81 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $305.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $302.63. The firm has a market cap of $132.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.08, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $231.27 and a 1 year high of $329.93.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its earnings results 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. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. The firm had revenue of $5.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.88 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.