HM Payson & Co. Has $12.41 Million Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

HM Payson & Co. increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,395 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,035 shares during the quarter. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $12,410,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter worth about $209,000. Graypoint LLC grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 6.6% during the third quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 6,340 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,754,000 after buying an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 529,690 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $146,581,000 after buying an additional 22,766 shares in the last quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 5.2% during the third quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 890 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $246,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Western Pacific Wealth Management LP boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 150.0% during the third quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 500 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $138,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of ADP opened at $306.45 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $124.87 billion, a PE ratio of 31.96, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $231.27 and a 12 month high of $322.84. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $302.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $293.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59.

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

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is 64.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ADP shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.18.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total value of $704,869.20. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 3,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $929,007.90. This represents a 43.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total value of $210,236.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,077,721.04. This trade represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 5,478 shares of company stock valued at $1,617,241 in the last ninety days. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Automatic Data Processing

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.