Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC Lowers Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

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

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First National Trust Co increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 34.7% in the 4th quarter. First National Trust Co now owns 55,684 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $16,300,000 after acquiring an additional 14,334 shares during the period. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth approximately $52,000. LBP AM SA lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 80,033 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $23,428,000 after acquiring an additional 3,461 shares during the period. Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth $37,132,000. Finally, Impact Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at $2,217,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total value of $106,366.46. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,027,233.98. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 6.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,951 shares of company stock worth $1,762,074. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ADP opened at $290.55 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $118.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.30, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $231.27 and a twelve month high of $322.84. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $302.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $294.30. 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 (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (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%. As a group, analysts expect 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.