Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC Sells 42 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC decreased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,047 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 42 shares during the quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $2,063,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $708,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 280,961 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $77,750,000 after purchasing an additional 15,340 shares in the last quarter. RIA Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter valued at $470,000. DRW Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter valued at about $951,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 51.1% during the third quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 18,925 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,236,000 after acquiring an additional 6,399 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. The trade was a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total value of $210,236.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 68,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,077,721.04. This trade represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 5,951 shares of company stock worth $1,762,074. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

NASDAQ ADP opened at $290.55 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $118.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $302.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $294.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $231.27 and a 52-week high of $322.84.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on ADP shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays increased 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. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.18.

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.