Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Stake Reduced by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 18.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,924 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 1,791 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,846,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 22,539.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 934,326 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $217,670,000 after acquiring an additional 930,199 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 40.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,128,701 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $752,703,000 after purchasing an additional 905,043 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 65.5% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,402,511 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $337,416,000 after purchasing an additional 555,184 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 18.3% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,576,575 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $855,287,000 after buying an additional 553,946 shares during the period. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter valued at $107,401,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ADP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $254.00 to $250.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Bank of America upgraded Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $217.00 to $243.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $255.42.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of ADP opened at $241.89 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $99.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.00, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.78. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a one year low of $205.53 and a one year high of $256.84. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $245.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $239.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.88 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.79 by $0.09. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 93.09% and a net margin of 19.56%. The company had revenue of $5.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.52 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.32%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Joseph Desilva sold 1,904 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total transaction of $485,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 17,179 shares in the company, valued at $4,380,645. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, VP Joseph Desilva sold 1,904 shares of Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.00, for a total transaction of $485,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 17,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,380,645. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 694 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.43, for a total transaction of $173,104.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 20,687 shares in the company, valued at $5,159,958.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 3,829 shares of company stock worth $965,274 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.26% of the company’s stock.

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.