Decatur Capital Management Inc. Invests $2.76 Million in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Decatur Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 11,580 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,764,000. Automatic Data Processing makes up about 1.3% of Decatur Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ADP. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. 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 acquired a new stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing in the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Pineridge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors own 80.03% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Trading Down 0.5 %

NASDAQ ADP opened at $275.25 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $112.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $266.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $252.09. 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 one year low of $205.53 and a one year high of $281.54.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The business services provider reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.06 by $0.03. Automatic Data Processing had a net margin of 19.54% and a return on equity of 89.20%. The business had revenue of $4.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.89 earnings per share. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 10.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Automatic Data Processing Dividend Announcement

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 issued a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $5.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio is 62.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on ADP. 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 target 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. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $271.00 to $287.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Automatic Data Processing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $250.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Automatic Data Processing currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $267.83.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of Automatic Data Processing 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 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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 approximately $2,816,946. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael A. Bonarti sold 26,442 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 88,426 shares in the company, valued at $23,959,908.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 58,817 shares of company stock worth $15,999,208 over the last quarter. 0.26% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.