Foster & Motley Inc. Has $1.53 Million Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Foster & Motley Inc. lessened its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,557 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 282 shares during the quarter. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,528,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Heritage Investment Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Heritage Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,201 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $513,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. now owns 8,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,065,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.5% during the third quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 8,292 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,995,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.1% during the third quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,151 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $999,000 after buying an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 4,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,067,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research raised Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Mizuho upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $217.00 to $243.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $254.58.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Don Mcguire sold 11,333 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $2,776,585.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 19,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,876,970. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, VP Joseph Desilva sold 1,904 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was 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 approximately $4,380,645. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Don Mcguire sold 11,333 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.00, for a total value of $2,776,585.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 19,906 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,876,970. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 15,162 shares of company stock worth $3,741,859. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $246.84 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $101.40 billion, a PE ratio of 28.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.78. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $247.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $239.21. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $201.46 and a 12 month high of $256.84.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.10 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 95.22% and a net margin of 19.14%. The company had revenue of $4.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.65 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.96 EPS. Automatic Data Processing’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.19%.

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.