Tufton Capital Management Sells 1,703 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Tufton Capital Management reduced its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 3.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,066 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 1,703 shares during the period. Automatic Data Processing accounts for 3.1% of Tufton Capital Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Tufton Capital Management's holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $16,213,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Sentinus LLC lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Sentinus LLC now owns 1,548 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $453,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 3,686 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,079,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the last quarter. Detalus Advisors LLC lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Detalus Advisors LLC now owns 1,566 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $478,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Group LTD lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 50.7% during the 4th quarter. Main Street Group LTD now owns 113 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Howard Financial Services LTD. lifted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 1,735 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $530,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of ADP traded up $2.39 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $308.63. 936,145 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,343,466. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $249.49 and a one year high of $329.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.02, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The business has a 50-day moving average of $311.78 and a 200 day moving average of $304.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.59, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.76.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The business services provider reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.97 by $0.09. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.79% and a return on equity of 77.33%. The business had revenue of $5.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.49 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.88 earnings per share. Automatic Data Processing's revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ADP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Automatic Data Processing to a "hold" rating and set a $340.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $323.00 to $315.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $321.00 to $332.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Automatic Data Processing currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $309.62.

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.