Hanson & Doremus Investment Management Acquires 600 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Hanson & Doremus Investment Management lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 37.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,192 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $642,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 78.5% during the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ADP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.8 %

ADP opened at $300.57 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $122.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $231.27 and a 12 month high of $311.67. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $297.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $283.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. On average, equities analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.05%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is currently 65.74%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $286.15, for a total value of $305,322.05. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 6,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,756,961. This trade represents a 14.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 42,129 shares of company stock valued at $12,604,872 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

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.