Northstar Group Inc. Has $4.71 Million Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Northstar Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,398 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 193 shares during the quarter. Automatic Data Processing comprises about 0.8% of Northstar Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Northstar Group Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $4,705,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,731,270 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $11,923,265,000 after buying an additional 277,324 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,583,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,098,305,000 after buying an additional 65,965 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,174,419 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,807,438,000 after purchasing an additional 902,354 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 26.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,136,763 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,796,415,000 after purchasing an additional 1,299,390 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,886,552 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,137,710,000 after purchasing an additional 219,032 shares during the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total transaction 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 approximately $3,686,852.74. This represents a 11.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 478 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.14, for a total value of $140,120.92. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on ADP shares. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $323.00 to $315.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. TD Securities increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $321.00 to $332.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $306.82.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

ADP stock opened at $306.82 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $124.55 billion, a PE ratio of 31.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The business has a 50 day moving average of $308.06 and a 200-day moving average of $302.85. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $231.27 and a 12-month high of $329.93.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $5.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.49 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. Automatic Data Processing’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.88 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 63.05%.

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.