Hsbc Holdings PLC Sells 100,797 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Hsbc Holdings PLC cut its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 7.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,188,657 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 100,797 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned about 0.29% of Automatic Data Processing worth $347,946,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ADP. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total value of $704,869.20. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 3,063 shares in the company, valued at $929,007.90. The trade was a 43.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total transaction of $458,070.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 12,073 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,686,852.74. This trade represents a 11.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 4,775 shares of company stock worth $1,447,893 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on ADP. StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price 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. 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 report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $302.30.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ ADP traded down $2.79 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $291.76. The stock had a trading volume of 1,481,853 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,684,385. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $231.27 and a 1 year high of $322.84. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $299.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $298.52. The firm has a market cap of $118.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.74.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business 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 $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.