Ironwood Investment Management LLC Raises Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Ironwood Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,438 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Ironwood Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,592,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 3,437 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $951,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 2.1% in the third quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $482,000 after purchasing an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,996 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $552,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Curi RMB Capital LLC raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 9.8% during the 3rd quarter. Curi RMB Capital LLC now owns 7,669 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,122,000 after buying an additional 684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 11,024 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,051,000 after buying an additional 943 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of ADP stock opened at $291.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $302.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $294.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.88 billion, a PE ratio of 30.42, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $231.27 and a 52-week high of $322.84.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share (EPS) 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, analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ADP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of 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 shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.18.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.15, for a total transaction of $305,322.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 6,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,756,961. This represents a 14.81 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total value of $704,869.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $929,007.90. The trade was a 43.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 5,951 shares of company stock worth $1,762,074. 0.21% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.