Townsquare Capital LLC Boosts Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Townsquare Capital LLC lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 56,390 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 779 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $16,507,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 121.8% in the 4th quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Kieckhefer Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ADP shares. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. 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. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $302.30.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total value of $144,832.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,218,112.80. This represents a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.15, for a total transaction of $305,322.05. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,756,961. The trade was a 14.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,364 shares of company stock valued at $1,613,094 over the last quarter. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 2.5 %

ADP opened at $299.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $122.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.23, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.74. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $302.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $297.56. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $231.27 and a 12 month high of $322.84.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.23%.

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.