Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 60 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,641 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 60 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $615,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Heritage Investment Group Inc. grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Heritage Investment Group Inc. now owns 2,201 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $513,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Argus Investors Counsel Inc. now owns 8,863 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,065,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 1.1% during the third quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,151 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $999,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 4,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,067,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 0.7% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 6,886 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,657,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In related news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.43, for a total transaction of $173,104.42. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 20,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,159,958.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 694 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 20,687 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,159,958.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 17,179 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,380,645. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,966 shares of company stock worth $749,524. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $265.00 to $272.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 11th. 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, May 2nd. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $227.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Barclays upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $280.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Automatic Data Processing from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $217.00 to $243.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $255.42.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ADP opened at $242.94 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $245.29 and a 200-day moving average of $238.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $205.53 and a twelve month high of $256.84. The firm has a market cap of $99.43 billion, a PE ratio of 27.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.78.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The business services provider reported $2.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $5.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.52 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 62.50%.

Automatic Data Processing Company 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.