West Paces Advisors Inc. Decreases Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

West Paces Advisors Inc. lowered its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 7.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,979 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 251 shares during the quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $744,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Thompson Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 13.5% during the first quarter. Thompson Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,234 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $308,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period. New England Professional Planning Group Inc. purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the first quarter worth about $208,000. Evanson Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the first quarter worth about $213,000. Bourne Lent Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 1st quarter worth about $212,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the first quarter valued at about $135,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $253.00 to $251.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. StockNews.com upgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $255.42.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 4.2 %

Shares of ADP stock traded down $10.38 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $238.02. The company had a trading volume of 2,965,479 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,683,495. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $205.53 and a 1-year high of $256.84. The company has a 50 day moving average of $246.07 and a 200 day moving average of $243.83. The firm has a market cap of $97.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.78.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.79 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $5.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 93.09% and a net margin of 19.56%. The company’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.52 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.18 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

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 $1.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.35%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.50%.

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.