Thompson Investment Management Inc. Sells 87 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Thompson Investment Management Inc. decreased its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,147 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 87 shares during the quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $336,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 8.7% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 19,941 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,518,000 after buying an additional 1,603 shares during the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 317.3% during the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 3,059 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $846,000 after acquiring an additional 2,326 shares during the period. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 990 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $283,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 22.9% in the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,618 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,278,000 after purchasing an additional 861 shares during the period. Finally, Koshinski Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,756 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,870,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $293.55.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total value of $704,869.20. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total value of $210,236.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 68,856 shares in the company, valued at $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. Insiders sold 5,478 shares of company stock valued at $1,617,241 over the last ninety days. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $305.97 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization 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, 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $297.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $286.66.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted 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%. Research 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 firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.23%.

Automatic Data Processing Company 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.