MQS Management LLC Acquires New Holdings in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

MQS Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm bought 1,239 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $296,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ADP. Keener Financial Planning LLC boosted its position 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 valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. New Millennium Group LLC purchased a new stake in Automatic Data Processing during the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Don Mcguire sold 3,179 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $274.38, for a total transaction of $872,254.02. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 41,696 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,440,548.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, VP Don Mcguire sold 3,179 shares of the company’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 approximately $11,440,548.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 value of $228,927.60. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 10,410 shares in the company, valued at $2,816,946. 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 in the last three months. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America raised their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $267.00 target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $265.36.

Automatic Data Processing Stock Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ:ADP opened at $276.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $264.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $251.51. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 1-year low of $205.53 and a 1-year high of $281.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.85, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $4.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.89 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 10.04 EPS for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Automatic Data Processing’s payout ratio is 62.50%.

Automatic Data Processing Company 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.