Adirondack Trust Co. Trims Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Adirondack Trust Co. reduced its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,755 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 98 shares during the quarter. Adirondack Trust Co.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,099,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Accredited Investors Inc. raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4,431.5% in the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,315,295 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $640,712,000 after buying an additional 2,264,202 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 28,478.6% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,194,587 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $3,305,780,000 after purchasing an additional 1,190,407 shares during the period. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter valued at about $160,920,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 332.3% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 623,341 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $172,497,000 after purchasing an additional 479,145 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 242.4% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 644,135 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $153,749,000 after purchasing an additional 456,027 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

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 firm’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,856 shares in the company, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 42,129 shares of company stock worth $12,604,872 in the last ninety days. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on ADP shares. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays increased their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ADP opened at $296.36 on Thursday. 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’s 50-day moving average price is $297.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $281.56. 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 $120.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.08 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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 9.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.74%.

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.