Ironwood Investment Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Ironwood Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,438 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 44 shares during the quarter. Ironwood Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,592,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at about $708,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised 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 valued at $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 worth approximately $470,000. DRW Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter valued at approximately $951,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted 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 purchasing an additional 6,399 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ ADP opened at $291.76 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $118.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. 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 $322.84. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $302.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $294.44.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.11%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was 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 owns 7,244 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,218,112.80. This trade represents a 6.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total value of $704,869.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 3,063 shares in the company, valued at $929,007.90. The trade was a 43.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 5,951 shares of company stock valued at $1,762,074. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on ADP shares. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group boosted their target price 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Two research 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. According to MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.18.

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.