Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 104,619 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 780 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $24,971,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ADP. BlueSpruce Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the first quarter valued at $365,757,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at $308,321,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 22.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,543,317 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $825,487,000 after acquiring an additional 649,791 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 27.7% in the first quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,715,382 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $678,601,000 after acquiring an additional 589,831 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 238.1% in the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 784,003 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $195,797,000 after acquiring an additional 552,096 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $277.48 on Thursday. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $205.53 and a 1 year high of $279.58. The company has a market capitalization of $113.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $258.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $250.18.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 89.20% and a net margin of 19.54%. The firm had revenue of $4.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 10.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Maria Black sold 19,147 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total transaction of $5,253,553.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 92,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,464,384.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Maria Black sold 19,147 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total transaction of $5,253,553.86. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 92,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,464,384.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total transaction of $2,479,748.35. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 36,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,899,862.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 58,817 shares of company stock worth $15,999,208 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on ADP. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $282.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $265.36.

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.