J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Grows Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,872 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 242 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,402,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ADP. Keener Financial Planning LLC lifted its stake in Automatic Data Processing by 230.3% during the first quarter. Keener Financial Planning LLC now owns 109 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ ADP opened at $277.51 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $260.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $250.53. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $205.53 and a 12 month high of $279.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.17 billion, a PE ratio of 30.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $4.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $1.40 dividend. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is presently 62.50%.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total value of $7,164,724.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 88,426 shares in the company, valued at $23,959,908.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.96, for a total transaction of $7,164,724.32. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 88,426 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,959,908.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.60, for a total transaction of $228,927.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,816,946. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 58,817 shares of company stock worth $15,999,208 over the last ninety days. 0.26% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ADP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $285.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays lifted their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $282.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com upgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $265.36.

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.