Ledyard National Bank Increases Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Ledyard National Bank boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 8.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,730 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 933 shares during the period. Ledyard National Bank’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $2,733,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Evolution Advisers Inc. purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 106.0% in the third quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 173 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 89 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP Joseph Desilva sold 1,904 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total transaction of $485,520.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 17,179 shares in the company, valued at $4,380,645. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.01, for a total value of $90,899.68. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,319 shares in the company, valued at $5,018,996.19. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Joseph Desilva sold 1,904 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total transaction of $485,520.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 17,179 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,380,645. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 15,162 shares of company stock valued at $3,741,859 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:ADP traded up $0.88 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $243.95. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,153,478 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,785,773. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $205.53 and a 52-week high of $256.84. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $100.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.78. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $246.51 and a 200-day moving average of $239.10.

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

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business 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 $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 65.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ADP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wolfe Research upgraded Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $217.00 to $243.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $258.36.

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.