Welch & Forbes LLC Has $57.46 Million Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Welch & Forbes LLC lowered its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 246,634 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,273 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $57,458,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. Ardent Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter valued at about $392,000. Americana Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 3.1% during the third quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 22,228 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $5,330,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 28.5% in the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,150 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,995,000 after purchasing an additional 3,800 shares in the last quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 36.7% in the fourth quarter. Cyndeo Wealth Partners LLC now owns 19,800 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,613,000 after purchasing an additional 5,318 shares during the period. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at $1,635,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $215,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 8,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,071,250. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Joseph Desilva sold 1,904 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total value of $485,520.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,380,645. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $215,750.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,071,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 3,829 shares of company stock valued at $965,274 over the last three months. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. Bank of America raised shares of Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $217.00 to $243.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $255.42.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP traded up $0.85 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $242.74. The company had a trading volume of 1,108,750 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,788,093. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $205.53 and a 12 month high of $256.84. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $245.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $238.92. The stock has a market cap of $99.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.09, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.78.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.79 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $5.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 93.09% and a net margin of 19.56%. The company’s revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.52 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.15 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.50%.

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.