Loudon Investment Management LLC Sells 131 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Loudon Investment Management LLC lessened its position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,408 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 131 shares during the period. Loudon Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,060,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ADP. Heritage Investment Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Heritage Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,201 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $513,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. now owns 8,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,065,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,151 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $999,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 4,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,067,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 6,886 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,657,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock traded down $5.30 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $242.03. 1,781,121 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,798,777. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1 year low of $205.53 and a 1 year high of $256.84. The company has a market capitalization of $99.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.78. The business has a fifty day moving average of $246.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $239.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

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. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.14% and a return on equity of 95.22%. The business had revenue of $5.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 65.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $217.00 to $243.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $255.42.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.01, for a total value of $90,899.68. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 20,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,018,996.19. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Joseph Desilva sold 1,904 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total transaction of $485,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 17,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,380,645. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.01, for a total transaction of $90,899.68. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,018,996.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,829 shares of company stock valued at $965,274 over the last 90 days. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.