Rockland Trust Co. Has $21.35 Million Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Rockland Trust Co. trimmed its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 2.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 69,873 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,896 shares during the quarter. Rockland Trust Co.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $21,348,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $708,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 155,934 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $45,647,000 after buying an additional 2,787 shares during the period. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 236,707 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $69,290,000 after acquiring an additional 21,910 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 42.8% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,725 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,090,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117 shares during the period. Finally, Napatree Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 3,199 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $936,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ADP shares. TD Securities raised their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $305.64.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

NASDAQ:ADP opened at $309.75 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $231.27 and a 52-week high of $329.93. The firm has a market cap of $125.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.30, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.79. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $307.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $302.92.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.09. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. The business had revenue of $5.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.49 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.88 earnings per share. Automatic Data Processing’s quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 63.05%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $305.38, for a total transaction of $458,070.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 12,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,686,852.74. This represents a 11.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher D’ambrosio sold 478 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.14, for a total transaction of $140,120.92. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,158,682.96. This represents a 6.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.