Baxter Bros Inc. Reduces Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Baxter Bros Inc. lowered its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 85,183 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,233 shares during the period. Automatic Data Processing makes up 2.8% of Baxter Bros Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Baxter Bros Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $19,845,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,670,083 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,085,849,000 after purchasing an additional 198,008 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 5.1% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,902,520 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,420,028,000 after purchasing an additional 288,234 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 1.5% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,242,859 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,261,327,000 after purchasing an additional 77,187 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 18.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,576,575 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $855,287,000 after buying an additional 553,946 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 40.7% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,128,701 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $752,703,000 after purchasing an additional 905,043 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on ADP shares. Bank of America upgraded Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the company from $217.00 to $243.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $253.00 to $251.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $254.00 to $250.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $255.42.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.01, for a total value of $90,899.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,018,996.19. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Joseph Desilva sold 1,904 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total transaction of $485,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 17,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,380,645. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.01, for a total transaction of $90,899.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,018,996.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,829 shares of company stock worth $965,274 over the last quarter. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of ADP stock traded down $0.14 during trading on Friday, hitting $241.89. The company had a trading volume of 1,491,532 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,451,137. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $205.53 and a 52 week high of $256.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $245.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $239.08.

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

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.