1,931 Shares in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) Purchased by Sheets Smith Wealth Management

Sheets Smith Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP - Free Report) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,931 shares of the business services provider's stock, valued at approximately $534,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ADP. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 801,857 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $200,256,000 after buying an additional 99,515 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Automatic Data Processing by 70.7% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 638,507 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $152,405,000 after purchasing an additional 264,466 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in Automatic Data Processing by 1.7% in the first quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 247,474 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $61,804,000 after buying an additional 4,253 shares in the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 23.8% during the second quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 26,610 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $6,352,000 after buying an additional 5,114 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the third quarter worth $209,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.03% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $270.60, for a total value of $228,927.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 10,410 shares in the company, valued at $2,816,946. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Automatic Data Processing news, VP David Kwon sold 846 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $270.60, for a total value of $228,927.60. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,410 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,816,946. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 88,426 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,959,908.96. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 97,792 shares of company stock valued at $27,691,708 over the last ninety days. 0.21% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ADP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of Automatic Data Processing from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $289.91.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Up 0.7 %

ADP stock traded up $2.05 during trading on Monday, reaching $306.78. 880,048 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,634,259. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a twelve month low of $226.09 and a twelve month high of $308.54. The firm's 50 day moving average is $284.12 and its 200 day moving average is $262.03. The firm has a market cap of $125.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.21 by $0.12. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. The company had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.77 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.08 EPS. Automatic Data Processing's quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.54 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.01%. This is an increase from Automatic Data Processing's previous quarterly dividend of $1.40. Automatic Data Processing's payout ratio is 59.77%.

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.