ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC Raises Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 24.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,383 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $322,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wealth Management Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $211,000. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 3.9% in the third quarter. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 1,865 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $449,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 402.7% in the third quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 4,112 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $989,000 after purchasing an additional 3,294 shares during the last quarter. Silver Lake Advisory LLC grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Silver Lake Advisory LLC now owns 17,798 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $4,282,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, Monument Capital Management increased its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 18.5% during the 3rd quarter. Monument Capital Management now owns 1,135 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on ADP. StockNews.com lowered shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Bank of America raised shares of Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $217.00 to $243.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 17th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $253.00 to $251.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $254.00 to $250.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $255.42.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $241.89. 1,491,532 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,451,137. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $245.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $239.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $99.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $205.53 and a 12 month high of $256.84.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.79 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $5.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.22 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 93.09% and a net margin of 19.56%. The company’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.52 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.01, for a total value of $90,899.68. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 20,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,018,996.19. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $215,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 8,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,071,250. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.01, for a total transaction of $90,899.68. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 20,319 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,018,996.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 3,829 shares of company stock valued at $965,274. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.