Telos Capital Management Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Telos Capital Management Inc. decreased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,352 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $396,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 8.7% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 19,941 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,518,000 after buying an additional 1,603 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 78.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,747 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,057,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 896 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth $204,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP David Foskett sold 1,067 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $286.15, for a total value of $305,322.05. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 6,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,756,961. The trade was a 14.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total transaction of $106,366.46. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,027,233.98. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 5,478 shares of company stock worth $1,617,241. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com lowered Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. TD Cowen upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $293.55.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of Automatic Data Processing stock opened at $305.97 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $297.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $285.99. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $231.27 and a 12 month high of $311.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.91, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 80.86%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 64.23%.

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.