Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV Has $1.73 Million Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV lessened its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 7,423 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,729,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Heritage Investment Group Inc. raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Heritage Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,201 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $513,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. now owns 8,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,065,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 0.5% during the third quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 8,292 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,995,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.1% in the third quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,151 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $999,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 4,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,067,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ADP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $217.00 to $243.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $254.58.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 694 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.43, for a total value of $173,104.42. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 20,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,159,958.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Don Mcguire sold 11,333 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total transaction of $2,776,585.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 19,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,876,970. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 694 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.43, for a total value of $173,104.42. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 20,687 shares in the company, valued at $5,159,958.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,162 shares of company stock valued at $3,741,859. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of ADP stock traded up $3.97 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $247.28. 438,774 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,798,591. The firm has a market cap of $101.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.78. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $201.46 and a fifty-two week high of $256.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $247.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $239.19.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $4.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.65 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.14% and a return on equity of 95.22%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.96 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.14 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is currently 65.19%.

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.