Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Shares Sold by Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. cut its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 1.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,286 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 54 shares during the quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $784,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ADP. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Automatic Data Processing by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 39,769,440 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $9,932,020,000 after purchasing an additional 173,298 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,492,425 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,279,570,000 after purchasing an additional 249,566 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,625,186 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $905,354,000 after purchasing an additional 81,869 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 27.7% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,715,382 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $678,601,000 after acquiring an additional 589,831 shares during the period. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 16.9% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 2,124,476 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $530,567,000 after purchasing an additional 307,156 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ADP. Bank of America upped their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $253.00 to $251.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $254.00 to $250.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $282.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $262.18.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of ADP stock traded up $1.34 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $263.25. The company had a trading volume of 320,000 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,678,763. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $107.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.23, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.78. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $205.53 and a 12 month high of $269.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $247.41 and its 200 day moving average is $247.02.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $4.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.74 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.54% and a return on equity of 89.20%. Automatic Data Processing’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 10.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is 62.50%.

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.