Welch & Forbes LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Welch & Forbes LLC decreased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 246,634 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,273 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC owned 0.06% of Automatic Data Processing worth $57,458,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 22,539.4% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 934,326 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $217,670,000 after purchasing an additional 930,199 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 40.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,128,701 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $752,703,000 after acquiring an additional 905,043 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 65.5% during the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,402,511 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $337,416,000 after purchasing an additional 555,184 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 18.3% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,576,575 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $855,287,000 after purchasing an additional 553,946 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter valued at about $107,401,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on ADP shares. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $253.00 to $251.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on 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 Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $217.00 to $243.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $255.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.01, for a total value of $90,899.68. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,319 shares in the company, valued at $5,018,996.19. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Joseph Desilva sold 1,904 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total value of $485,520.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 17,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,380,645. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.01, for a total value of $90,899.68. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 20,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,018,996.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,829 shares of company stock valued at $965,274 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

ADP traded up $0.85 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $242.74. 1,108,750 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,788,093. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $245.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $238.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.35 billion, a PE ratio of 27.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.78. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $205.53 and a 1-year high of $256.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.79 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $5.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 93.09% and a net margin of 19.56%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.52 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.31%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.50%.

Automatic Data Processing Company 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.