Thompson Investment Management Inc. Sells 87 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Thompson Investment Management Inc. lessened its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 7.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,147 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 87 shares during the period. Thompson Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $336,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth $209,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 5.8% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 280,961 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $77,750,000 after purchasing an additional 15,340 shares during the period. RIA Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter valued at about $470,000. Dash Acquisitions Inc. grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Dash Acquisitions Inc. now owns 52,329 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $15,069,000 after purchasing an additional 2,781 shares during the period. Finally, DRW Securities LLC bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $951,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ADP. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays increased their target price 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 boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $293.55.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ADP opened at $305.97 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.00. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $297.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $286.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.67 billion, a PE ratio of 31.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $231.27 and a 52 week high of $311.67.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.23%.

Insider Activity

In other Automatic Data Processing news, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total value of $210,236.39. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,856 shares in the company, valued at $20,077,721.04. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,478 shares of company stock valued at $1,617,241. 0.21% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.