Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Acquires 241 Shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 2.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,351 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 241 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $3,418,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 78.5% in the third quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Automatic Data Processing

In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of the company’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 owns 10,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,816,946. This represents a 7.52 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Carlos A. Rodriguez sold 9,203 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $269.45, for a total transaction of $2,479,748.35. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 36,741 shares in the company, valued at $9,899,862.45. The trade was a 20.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 97,792 shares of company stock worth $27,691,708. Insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ADP opened at $298.48 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $121.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 0.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.01. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $287.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $264.14. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $227.12 and a fifty-two week high of $309.37.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.77 billion. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.72% and a return on equity of 82.36%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.08 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.54 per share. This represents a $6.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. This is an increase from Automatic Data Processing’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.74%.

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.