Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI Reduces Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI trimmed its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 83,404 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 710 shares during the quarter. Automatic Data Processing accounts for about 2.0% of Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $24,415,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,650 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $483,000 after buying an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 3,120,039 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $910,972,000 after buying an additional 449,431 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 26.5% in the fourth quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,706 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $792,000 after buying an additional 567 shares during the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. increased its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 42,395 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $12,410,000 after buying an additional 1,035 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arjuna Capital bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,491,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

ADP opened at $306.45 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $124.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 0.76. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $231.27 and a 1-year high of $322.84. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $302.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $293.75.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Jonathan S. Lehberger sold 2,324 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $303.30, for a total value of $704,869.20. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 3,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $929,007.90. This represents a 43.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total value of $106,366.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at $4,027,233.98. This represents a 2.57 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 5,478 shares of company stock worth $1,617,241 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $318.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. 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, Automatic Data Processing presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.18.

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.