Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 96,134 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 954 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $28,141,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% during the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 1.3 %

Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $306.45 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $124.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $231.27 and a fifty-two week high of $322.84. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $302.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $293.93.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. Analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. 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 note on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total transaction of $704,869.20. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 3,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $929,007.90. This trade represents a 43.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total value of $210,236.39. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,077,721.04. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,478 shares of company stock valued at $1,617,241. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.