Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. Lowers Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,488 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 199 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $372,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Keener Financial Planning LLC raised its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 230.3% in the first quarter. Keener Financial Planning LLC now owns 109 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the first quarter worth $33,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. New Millennium Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on ADP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $265.36.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of ADP stock opened at $279.26 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $113.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.79. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $258.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $249.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $205.53 and a 1-year high of $279.58.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $4.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.74 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 89.20% and a net margin of 19.54%. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total value of $7,164,724.32. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 88,426 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,959,908.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total transaction of $7,164,724.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 88,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,959,908.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Don Mcguire sold 3,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total value of $872,254.02. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 41,696 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,440,548.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 58,817 shares of company stock valued at $15,999,208 over the last 90 days. 0.26% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.