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

Merit Financial Group LLC lessened its holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 18.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund 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 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 22,539.4% during 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 during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $752,703,000 after purchasing an additional 905,043 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 65.5% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,402,511 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $337,416,000 after buying an additional 555,184 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 18.3% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,576,575 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $855,287,000 after buying an additional 553,946 shares during the period. Finally, J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter worth about $107,401,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of ADP opened at $241.89 on Friday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 52-week low of $205.53 and a 52-week high of $256.84. The stock’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 quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock 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.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.79 by $0.09. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.56% and a return on equity of 93.09%. The firm had revenue of $5.30 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.52 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.15 EPS for the current fiscal 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 of this dividend 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 Automatic Data Processing stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $247.01, for a total transaction of $90,899.68. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 20,319 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,018,996.19. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, VP David Kwon sold 863 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $215,750.00. Following 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 368 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $247.01, for a total value of $90,899.68. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 20,319 shares in the company, valued at $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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ADP. Bank of America upgraded shares of 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. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Barclays increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $254.00 to $250.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $255.42.

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.