Howland Capital Management LLC Purchases 1,508 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Howland Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.6% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 93,608 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,508 shares during the period. Automatic Data Processing makes up about 1.1% of Howland Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Howland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $23,509,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Keener Financial Planning LLC increased its holdings 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 worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Coulter & Justus Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 1st quarter valued at about $216,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 10,885 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,718,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 62,978 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,728,000 after acquiring an additional 668 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Lester Murray Antman dba SimplyRich now owns 5,283 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,320,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Automatic Data Processing stock traded up $1.48 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $235.63. 1,577,533 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,687,663. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $244.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $243.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market cap of $96.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.78. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $205.53 and a 52 week high of $256.84.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.79 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $5.30 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.56% and a return on equity of 93.09%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.52 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ADP has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Cowen decreased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $253.00 to $251.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Barclays raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $254.00 to $250.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $255.42.

Automatic Data Processing 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.