Capital Counsel LLC NY Trims Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Capital Counsel LLC NY lowered its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 688,080 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 4,436 shares during the period. Automatic Data Processing makes up about 8.6% of Capital Counsel LLC NY’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Capital Counsel LLC NY’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $201,422,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ADP. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 40,731,270 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $11,923,265,000 after buying an additional 277,324 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,583,607 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,098,305,000 after acquiring an additional 65,965 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 6.0% during 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 period. Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 3,120,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $910,972,000 after purchasing an additional 449,431 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,321,849 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $679,675,000 after purchasing an additional 69,042 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $302.30.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 0.3 %

NASDAQ ADP opened at $293.28 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $119.50 billion, a PE ratio of 30.58, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.74. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $231.27 and a 12 month high of $322.84. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $301.52 and a 200-day moving average of $298.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total value of $704,869.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $929,007.90. This represents a 43.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total transaction of $144,832.60. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 7,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,218,112.80. This represents a 6.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 4,775 shares of company stock worth $1,447,893 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.