Howard Capital Management Inc. Buys 343 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 12,100 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $3,542,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 18,334,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $5,098,541,000 after acquiring an additional 424,328 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 10,517,642 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,906,257,000 after acquiring an additional 286,080 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,238,526 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $896,197,000 after acquiring an additional 41,709 shares during the last quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 4,431.5% in the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 2,315,295 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $640,712,000 after buying an additional 2,264,202 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,252,807 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $623,419,000 after buying an additional 17,717 shares during the period. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on ADP. Barclays increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $293.55.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP David Foskett sold 1,004 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.29, for a total value of $290,447.16. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 5,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,723,589.82. This trade represents a 14.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total value of $106,366.46. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. The trade was a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 5,478 shares of company stock valued at $1,617,241 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 0.4 %

ADP opened at $310.76 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $126.62 billion, a PE ratio of 32.40, a PEG ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. The business has a 50 day moving average of $298.72 and a 200-day moving average of $290.32. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $231.27 and a 52 week high of $313.72.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. Equities research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.