Essex Savings Bank Increases Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Essex Savings Bank grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 43,853 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 550 shares during the period. Automatic Data Processing comprises approximately 3.2% of Essex Savings Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Essex Savings Bank’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $12,837,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 346.5% in the third quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 106 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 78.5% during the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 transaction of $106,366.46. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,027,233.98. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $11,692,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 32,604 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,781,200. The trade was a 54.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 42,129 shares of company stock valued at $12,604,872. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ADP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com cut shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 11th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ADP opened at $293.37 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $298.48 and its 200 day moving average is $279.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.54 billion, a PE ratio of 31.31, a PEG ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $231.27 and a fifty-two week high of $309.63.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.12. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. The firm had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.08 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $1.54 dividend. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.10%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 65.74%.

Automatic Data Processing Company 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.