Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 5.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,971 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 155 shares during the period. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $908,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 2.9% in the first quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. now owns 11,713 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,579,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares during the period. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 15,454 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,722,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 10.9% during the 1st quarter. Curbstone Financial Management Corp now owns 5,321 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,626,000 after purchasing an additional 521 shares in the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 20.0% during the 1st quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,094 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trueblood Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 9.3% in the 1st quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,587 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,707,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total value of $458,070.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,686,852.74. This represents a 11.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 478 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.14, for a total value of $140,120.92. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,158,682.96. This represents a 6.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

NASDAQ ADP opened at $312.36 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $306.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $302.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The company has a market cap of $126.79 billion, a PE ratio of 32.57, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $231.27 and a 1 year high of $329.93.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $5.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.49 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.88 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is 63.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 2nd. TD Securities upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $305.64.

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.