Carnegie Investment Counsel Cuts Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Carnegie Investment Counsel cut its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 6,617 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 422 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,579,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Keener Financial Planning LLC lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 230.3% during the 1st quarter. Keener Financial Planning LLC now owns 109 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Evolution Advisers Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of ADP stock traded down $0.33 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $264.32. The company had a trading volume of 478,563 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,664,336. The company has a market capitalization of $108.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.78. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $248.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $247.63. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $205.53 and a 52-week high of $269.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $4.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.74 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 89.20% and a net margin of 19.54%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 10.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.12%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 62.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on ADP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $253.00 to $251.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $265.36.

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.