Granite Investment Partners LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Granite Investment Partners LLC reduced its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 3.5% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 40,076 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,455 shares during the quarter. Granite Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $9,566,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 5,698 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,360,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Schmidt P J Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,645 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,302,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 5.0% during the 2nd quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 863 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $206,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 5,581 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,402,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Patron Partners LLC grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 2,733 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $683,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total transaction of $7,164,724.32. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 88,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,959,908.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.60, for a total value of $228,927.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,816,946. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total transaction of $7,164,724.32. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 88,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,959,908.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 58,817 shares of company stock valued at $15,999,208. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

NASDAQ ADP opened at $277.69 on Friday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $205.53 and a fifty-two week high of $281.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.79. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $263.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $251.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.54% and a return on equity of 89.20%. The firm had revenue of $4.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. Automatic Data Processing’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is presently 62.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on ADP. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $282.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $265.36.

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.