Capital Investment Counsel Inc Has $4.45 Million Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Capital Investment Counsel Inc cut its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,196 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 285 shares during the quarter. Automatic Data Processing comprises about 0.7% of Capital Investment Counsel Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position. Capital Investment Counsel Inc’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $4,448,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $209,000. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth approximately $708,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 5.8% during 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 during the last quarter. RIA Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $470,000. Finally, Dash Acquisitions Inc. raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. now owns 52,329 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $15,069,000 after purchasing an additional 2,781 shares during the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of ADP stock opened at $311.97 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $127.12 billion, a PE ratio of 32.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.61 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $298.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $289.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $231.27 and a 12 month high of $313.72.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.97%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $293.55.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total transaction of $704,869.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 3,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $929,007.90. The trade was a 43.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 $4,027,233.98. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 5,478 shares of company stock worth $1,617,241. 0.21% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.