Trust Co. of Vermont Boosts Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Trust Co. of Vermont increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,171 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $17,907,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,044,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 237.6% during the second quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 6,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,606,000 after acquiring an additional 4,735 shares during the period. Waterloo Capital L.P. grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 10.2% during the second quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 1,057 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the second quarter worth $314,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the second quarter valued at $1,032,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of Automatic Data Processing 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP David Foskett sold 1,004 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.29, for a total value of $290,447.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,958 shares in the company, valued at $1,723,589.82. The trade was a 14.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 42,129 shares of company stock valued at $12,604,872. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ADP traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $296.18. 2,405,360 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,454,451. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $298.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $279.57. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $231.27 and a 52 week high of $309.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $120.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. The company had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.08 EPS. Automatic Data Processing’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.74%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on ADP shares. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 11th. Barclays upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Citigroup upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.91.

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.