Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY Trims Stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY lowered its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 4.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,561 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 170 shares during the period. Burns J W & Co. Inc. NY’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $889,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $414,000. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter valued at $3,429,000. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 9.9% in the 3rd quarter. Staley Capital Advisers Inc. now owns 1,769 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $426,000 after purchasing an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia raised its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 51.1% in the third quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 54,716 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $13,164,000 after purchasing an additional 18,509 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 3.3% during the third quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 2,255 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $543,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on ADP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $255.42.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ADP traded up $1.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $238.69. 2,595,023 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,635,318. 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 fifty day moving average price is $245.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $243.78. The firm has a market cap of $97.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.78. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $205.53 and a one year high of $256.84.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its earnings results 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. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.56% and a return on equity of 93.09%. The company had revenue of $5.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.52 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.