Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV Has $1.87 Million Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV lessened its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,390 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 116 shares during the quarter. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,871,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ADP. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 95.7% in the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 773 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $214,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares during the last quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 22.6% in the third quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC now owns 4,170 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,154,000 after purchasing an additional 770 shares during the last quarter. Balentine LLC grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.9% in the third quarter. Balentine LLC now owns 3,320 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $919,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marks Group Wealth Management Inc grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.8% in the third quarter. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc now owns 31,425 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $8,696,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was 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 directly owns 3,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $929,007.90. This represents a 43.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 of the company’s stock, 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 worth $1,617,241 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ADP shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Barclays upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $296.18.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of ADP stock opened at $310.43 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $301.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $293.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $231.27 and a 1 year high of $322.84. The stock has a market cap of $126.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share 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%. On average, research analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is presently 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.