Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC Purchases 75 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,335 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,269,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% during the 3rd quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 121.8% during the 4th quarter. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC now owns 122 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 473 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $306.20, for a total transaction of $144,832.60. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 7,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,218,112.80. The trade was a 6.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at $4,027,233.98. The trade was a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,951 shares of company stock valued at $1,762,074 in the last 90 days. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $295.32 on Monday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $231.27 and a 12 month high of $322.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $303.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $295.50. The company has a market cap of $120.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.79, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.09%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 64.23%.

About Automatic Data Processing

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.