Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Shares Sold by Cozad Asset Management Inc.

Cozad Asset Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,353 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 65 shares during the period. Cozad Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,635,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ADP. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 92.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 10,026 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,935,000 after acquiring an additional 4,808 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth $957,000. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 238,388 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $69,841,000 after buying an additional 10,250 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 210.9% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 199 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 683,672 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $200,131,000 after acquiring an additional 16,604 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 0.6%

Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $308.64 on Wednesday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $255.97 and a 52 week high of $329.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $125.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $311.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $304.95.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.97 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $5.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.49 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 77.33% and a net margin of 19.79%. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.88 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ADP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $321.00 to $332.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. TD Securities lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $323.00 to $315.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing to a “hold” rating and set a $340.00 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $309.62.

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.