SlateStone Wealth LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

SlateStone Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,620 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 457 shares during the period. Automatic Data Processing comprises 1.3% of SlateStone Wealth LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. SlateStone Wealth LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $12,769,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at $342,942,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 41,710.7% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,090,422 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $319,199,000 after buying an additional 1,087,814 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter valued at about $160,920,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 332.3% during the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 623,341 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $172,497,000 after buying an additional 479,145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 3,120,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $910,972,000 after purchasing an additional 449,431 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other 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 value of $144,832.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,244 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,218,112.80. The trade was a 6.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at $4,027,233.98. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,951 shares of company stock valued at $1,762,074 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ADP. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.18.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.4 %

ADP opened at $291.76 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $118.88 billion, a PE ratio of 30.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a 50 day moving average of $302.32 and a 200 day moving average of $294.58.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given 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 2.11%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.