Stamos Capital Partners L.P. Lowers Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Stamos Capital Partners L.P. reduced its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 34.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,980 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 3,130 shares during the period. Stamos Capital Partners L.P.'s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,751,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,731,270 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $11,923,265,000 after purchasing an additional 277,324 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,583,607 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $3,098,305,000 after buying an additional 65,965 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,886,552 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $1,137,710,000 after acquiring an additional 219,032 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 3,120,039 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $910,972,000 after purchasing an additional 449,431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,321,849 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $679,675,000 after purchasing an additional 69,042 shares during the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of ADP stock traded down $0.86 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $293.28. The company had a trading volume of 1,667,100 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,676,839. The company has a market capitalization of $119.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.74. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $301.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $298.01. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $231.27 and a 52-week high of $322.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) 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 80.86%. Equities research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given 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 dividend yield of 2.10%. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio is currently 64.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Christopher D'ambrosio sold 473 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total transaction of $144,832.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,244 shares in the company, valued at $2,218,112.80. The trade was a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 12,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,686,852.74. The trade was a 11.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 4,775 shares of company stock worth $1,447,893. Insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

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.