Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 2.9% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 180,658 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,061 shares during the period. Automatic Data Processing comprises approximately 0.8% of Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $43,122,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ADP. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 105.2% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 2,017 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $467,000 after purchasing an additional 1,034 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,892 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $674,000 after buying an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,598 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $372,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. InterOcean Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. InterOcean Capital Group LLC now owns 3,934 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $916,000 after buying an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AXS Investments LLC grew its holdings in Automatic Data Processing by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. AXS Investments LLC now owns 14,414 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,358,000 after buying an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

Shares of ADP stock opened at $277.69 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $263.99 and its 200 day moving average is $251.30. 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 $281.54. The company has a market cap of $113.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.99, a PEG 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.06 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 89.20% and a net margin of 19.54%. The company had revenue of $4.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.74 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Shareholders 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 yield of 2.02%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. 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 raised their price objective on Automatic Data Processing from $282.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. 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 note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $265.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at Automatic Data Processing

In other news, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 88,426 shares in the company, valued at $23,959,908.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 88,426 shares in the company, valued at $23,959,908.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Don Mcguire sold 3,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 41,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,440,548.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 58,817 shares of company stock worth $15,999,208. 0.26% of the stock is owned by 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.