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

Investment Partners LTD. reduced its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,767 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 137 shares during the period. Investment Partners LTD.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,576,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ADP. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 10,832.1% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 3,061 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $736,000 after acquiring an additional 3,033 shares during the period. Advisory Alpha LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $220,000. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 9,756 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,347,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 2,608 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $631,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. Finally, U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,584 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,103,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ADP. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Bank of America raised shares of Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $217.00 to $243.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $267.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $254.58.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP traded down $3.27 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $243.07. 1,555,489 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,384,926. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $205.53 and a twelve month high of $256.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a market cap of $99.85 billion, a PE ratio of 28.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.78. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $246.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $239.26.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.10 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.14% and a return on equity of 95.22%. The firm had revenue of $4.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.65 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.96 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.30%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 65.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $215,750.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,071,250. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, VP Joseph Desilva sold 1,904 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total value of $485,520.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 17,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,380,645. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $215,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 8,285 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,071,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,162 shares of company stock worth $3,741,859 in the last quarter. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.