Woodstock Corp Reduces Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Woodstock Corp cut its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 58,096 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 452 shares during the period. Automatic Data Processing accounts for approximately 1.6% of Woodstock Corp’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Woodstock Corp’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $17,006,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ADP. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the second quarter worth approximately $27,044,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 237.6% during the 2nd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 6,728 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,606,000 after buying an additional 4,735 shares in the last quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 4,111 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $981,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 10.2% in the second quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 1,057 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $252,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the second quarter worth $314,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Automatic Data Processing 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.15, for a total transaction of $305,322.05. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 6,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,756,961. This trade represents a 14.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 42,129 shares of company stock worth $12,604,872 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on ADP shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of ADP stock opened at $296.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market cap of $120.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.79. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $298.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $279.45. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $231.27 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued 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 net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. The business had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.08 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is currently 65.74%.

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.