Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. Lowers Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. reduced its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 74,041 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 214 shares during the period. Automatic Data Processing comprises 2.4% of Richard C. Young & CO. LTD.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $21,674,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% in the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 78.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total transaction of $704,869.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 3,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $929,007.90. This represents a 43.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total transaction of $210,236.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,077,721.04. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 5,478 shares of company stock valued at $1,617,241. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays upped their target price 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. 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.com, Automatic Data Processing currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $293.55.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of ADP stock opened at $305.97 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $297.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $286.39. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12-month low of $231.27 and a 12-month high of $311.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The firm has a market cap of $124.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.79.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. Equities analysts anticipate 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 given a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.01%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 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.