Howland Capital Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Key Points

• Howland Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. by 1.1%, owning 91,842 shares valued at $28.2 million, making it the firm's 28th largest holding.
• Institutional investors collectively own 80.03% of Automatic Data Processing's stock, with several firms increasing their stakes significantly during the last quarter.
• The stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" with a price target of $310.69, following various adjustments from prominent research firms.

Howland Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) by 1.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 91,842 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 980 shares during the quarter. Automatic Data Processing makes up approximately 1.3% of Howland Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Howland Capital Management LLC's holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $28,202,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 34,655.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,901,007 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $886,345,000 after buying an additional 2,892,660 shares during the last quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 4th quarter worth about $396,714,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 26.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 6,136,763 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,796,415,000 after buying an additional 1,299,390 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 17.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 6,174,419 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $1,807,438,000 after buying an additional 902,354 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 128.1% in the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,585,704 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $484,480,000 after purchasing an additional 890,440 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ADP. UBS Group reduced their price objective on 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. BMO Capital Markets raised Automatic Data Processing to a "hold" rating and set a $340.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $321.00 to $332.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and issued a $315.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, TD Securities lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $298.00 to $321.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $310.69.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of ADP opened at $309.50 on Friday. The business's 50 day moving average is $310.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $305.12. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $256.47 and a 52-week high of $329.93. The firm has a market cap of $125.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.01, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The business services provider reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.23 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 72.84% and a net margin of 19.84%. The company had revenue of $5.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.09 EPS. Automatic Data Processing's quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.

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