Compass Capital Management Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Compass Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 216,514 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 8,552 shares during the period. Automatic Data Processing accounts for about 4.2% of Compass Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Compass Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.05% of Automatic Data Processing worth $63,380,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 1,054 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $292,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 1,742 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $482,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Aspiriant LLC boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 2,372 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $694,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,009 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,466,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. Finally, Petredis Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,485 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,902,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Up 1.4 %

ADP opened at $307.32 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $125.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.79. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $231.27 and a 52 week high of $311.67. The business’s 50 day moving average is $297.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $284.84. 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 (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The business services provider reported $2.35 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.30 by $0.05. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 80.86% and a net margin of 19.76%. On average, research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is currently 64.23%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $11,692,500.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 32,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,781,200. The trade was a 54.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Maria Black sold 721 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $291.59, for a total value of $210,236.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 68,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,077,721.04. This trade represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 42,129 shares of company stock valued at $12,604,872. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on ADP. Mizuho raised their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $315.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Barclays lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $325.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued 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 price target of $293.55.

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.